My name is Karla Robertson. I am really excited about TE818. I have taken other classes at MSU through Angel and none of them have included creating a blog so this should be new and exciting!
A Little Bit About Me...
I graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in Political Science and French. I originally went to the University of Vermont to study early childhood education but subsequently changed my major and university. Little did I know where I would be less than ten years later!
After completing my undergraduate degree, I thought about graduate school but then was asked to apply to Teach for America. I applied and was accepted to started teaching almost seven years ago as a Teach for America corps member. I taught in inner-city Houston, Texas for three years. For two of those years I taught kindergarten and one in Pre-Kindergarten. Although Teach for America is only a two year commitment I quickly discovered that I loved teaching especially young learners.
While in Houston, I met my husband Josh (who is also in this class). After three years, we decided to move from Houston to Michigan to be closer to family. Josh went to high school in Michigan and attended MSU for his undergraduate degree and I am originally from the northern suburbs of Chicago so Michigan was substantially closer to both of our families.
During our first year in Michigan I had to substitute teach but the following year I got a job teaching first grade in Haslett. After teaching for a year I was laid off as a result of budget cuts, but I was able to get a job teaching kindergarten in Mason. After a year teaching kindergarten I had the opportunity to move with half of my students to first grade.
I love teaching in Mason. The school where I teach is literally in the middle of a cornfield which is very different from the school where I taught in Houston. Nonetheless, Mason still gives me the opportunity to teach low income and at-risk students which is something I think is really important and an opportunity I missed while teaching in Haslett.
Since my husband is also a teacher we both spend a lot of time in our classrooms. Outside of the classroom I really like cooking/baking. As a graduate student at MSU I am hoping to learn more about teaching and specifically teaching literacy. Right now I would say my area of teaching expertise is early childhood education. Having taught Pre-K, K, and 1 has allowed me to learn a lot about young children. However, I still have a lot to learn about teaching and am looking forward to what this class has to offer.
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