Running Head: EDUCATIONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1

Educational Autobiography Jacob Le Schill

EDUCATIONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Ivy Tech Community CollegeAbstract Knowledge, Dispositions and Performance are just some o the aspects o loo!ing bac! on "ho you "ere and your o"n evolution o you in the past to become "ho you are in the present# The main purpose o this lashbac! is to provide mysel "ith a sense o satis action that "ill give me the tools I need and apply them to students in the uture$ to understand students and diagnose the best solutions or their o"n problems and ultimately to understand my o"n sel # %e lecting bac! on "hat made me "ho I am today is an essential part o the process o becoming an educator# This is not a paper, this is a vision into my past to see my o"n re lection o the language issues o "hich I had to overcome, my o"n trials in the amily I represent and the personality I have# In these lashbac!s, I "ill go in depth as to "hy these have such a big impact on "ho I am today and "hy they are o such signi icance# And in the process, I "ill ul ill &rinciple '( o the I)TASC principals, "hich is *The teacher is a re lective practitioner "ho continually evaluates the e ects o his+her choices and actions on others ,students, parents, and other pro essionals in the learning community- and "ho actively see!s out opportunities to gro" pro essionally. ,/iddle, 0112-# Keywords: 3no"ledge, 4ispositions, &er ormance

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Educational Autobiography Through the emergence o obstacles comes the de eat o a parallel being# A 5uote that "ill ring a bell to no one besides a reader o these "ords# 6e all ace adversity and o ten times, that adversity is our o"n sel in disguise# Too o ten are mista!es made that could have been prevented had one been taught but even more o ten are the same mista!es remade over and over# The past can be a dar! place to most o us, but to those "ho reali7e it, it is because o those trials8 both good and evil8 that "e are "ho "e are today# A boy risen through the ashes o near death to be reborn li!e the phoeni9 into a man o passion, o animals, o :od and o spirit, I "ill reveal the past o the problems I have aced8 my o"n language barrier, my bro!en amily and my rigid personality# Through these problems, I "ill gather in ormation to conclude ho" I can urther share my 3no"ledge and 4isposition through my o"n &er ormance to become the ideal teacher I see! to be and in hopes to reveal the meaning o the 5uote *Through the emergence o obstacles comes the de eat o a parallel being.# Une barrire de la Langue: A Language Barrier ;ost o you "ould not understand the "ords to the le t o the title# Though that may be your displacement, at one time the "ords on the right "as mine# The struggles o a language barrier "here the lac! o your native language, <rench, is virtually none9istent is a tough nut to crac!# ;any o the non8native English spea!ers "ho come to the =nited States are predominately Spanish spea!ing# Than!s to the government, many o the "ords "e see on our ood, appliances and many assets have Spanish underneath the English# Some disli!e this, ho"ever$ a lot o you may not have !no"n the there is no o icial language in the =nited States# /ut "hy is that important> In regards to that 5uestion, the ans"er is simple? ESL$ English as a Second Language# In response to the dynamic race the =nited States is made up o , ESL classes

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are seen in virtually every school system# These systems are designed to help student "hich do not spea! English "ell enough to lourish in an environment that spea!s English# ;y irst e9perience "ith an ESL class "as at @arrison @ill in Indianapolis, Indiana# /eing born in Ale des SBurs, ;ontreal, Cuebec Canada, my native language "as <rench# @o"ever, I did not learn English at home mainly due to the neglect o my parents# ;y mother "or!ed consistently rom mornings until around Dpm and by that time, I "as in bed# ;y ather "or!ed very rough labor stoc!ing dry"all sometimes E0 hour days# @e did his best but even his English at one point "asnFt good# ;y mother "as the only one "ho !ne" English very "ell# So, my only place to learn "as at school# In the beginning things "ere ine but a ter a "hile they put me in regular English courses# So I had a lac! o English !no"ledge and "as e9pected to do "ell in the class# At many times I had a hard time understanding my teachers and I "as so shy I just couldnFt bring mysel to tell# @o"ever "hen it came time to do assignments I actually did pretty "ell# I learned to read and "rite English much aster than I did listening and spea!ing# 4ue to my accent at the time, ma!ing riends "as very hard# ;ost o my riends "ere Asian surprisingly$ usually didnFt !no" English very "ell either# ;any o the English spea!ers did not li!e me# They couldnFt understand "hy I "asnFt able to spea! or ans"er their 5uestions at times or respond bac! and at times it really caused trouble "hen they elt ignored# ;y teachers didnFt understand "hat "as going on "ith me either and at one point got told to go to a psychologist all because I didnFt understand the language spo!en very "ell# @aving no parents to help, little to no teacher help and having high e9pectations set or me made my Elementary School li e tough# =pon reaching the Gth grade, I understood English airly "ell# ;y grades in Gth grade rose to "here I inally made honor roll and elt prepared to go into ;iddle School# /oy, "as I "rong# =pon entering 2th grade at /el7er ;iddle School ,at the time, 2th grade "as middle school- my li e "ent do"nhill#

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;y accent and "ho I "as spurred many ights in ;iddle School and I began to see that it "as no place or an adolescent boy to be# Loo!ing bac!, it "as ali!e to jail# )o one respected you unless you "ere part o that clich, i you did not understand English you "ere alone and as a result my grades dropped tremendously# @o"ever, by the time I reached Hth grade my English "as good# I could understand it good and I could spea! it good along "ith read and "rite# I could say I "as even better than many o the slang8spea!ing belligerent !ids as "ell# 6ith the lac! o help in Elementary School, the language barrier too! a toll on me# /ut this "as not the main issue anymore# Something else "as causing me issues$ something ar more elusive and terri ying# Family Intervention 6hen people generally thin! about amily they usually thin! o positive things# 6hen amily intervention ta!es place, it is o members in the amily ta!ing actions or a cause or another amily member# I ten times, this can be a good thing# @o"ever at times this may also be negative# ;y parents and I have pretty much al"ays gotten along# ;y mother "as a caring "oman "ho "or!ed long hour or us# She "as one to sho" us plenty o love and need "hen she could# ;y ather "as the same# ;y brother, Josh and I got to spend more time "ith our ather than our mother# @e taught us to s"im, bas!etball, ootball and other essential things# @e "ould o ten help us "ith our home"or! "hen possible# There "ere some complications in the amily such as parental arguments "hich is natural in any amily# ;y dad dran! but rarely got drun! and he never hit us or our mother and "as al"ays a pretty good guy# At around 2th grade, something changed# ;y ather intervened in a "ay that "ill never heal in my li e and "ill al"ays leave a scar on me# This intervention "as not on purpose, this intervention "as an accident# ;y ather "as involved "ith a head on train accident# ;y ather o ten ished at nights very late "ith his riend, Jimmy on the "ee!ends# @e "as nice as "ell and our amily got along "ith his# This

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night ho"ever "as di erent# As they pac!ed up around Jam, Jimmy "ent to his home and my ather "ent to ours# In the "ay bac!, my dad too! the train trac!s "hich ta!es you directly to our home ,the la!e is "ithin "al!ing distance-# @e has done this or years but there is one mista!e that "as made? he "as drun!# ;y ather heard the train coming so he got to the opposite side that he thought itFd be on# I cannot say or sure "hat happened but it lead to him getting struc! by the co"catcher o the train# )o car$ ull metal to body hit# ;y ather did not come in that morning and at around Ham "e received a call rom the hospital that an accident had occurred "ith :ene, my ather# 6hen "e arrived, I have never seen a more beat up man in my li e# Iver hal the bones in his body "ere bro!en, he could not spea!, he could not cry and he "as in a rotating bed that constantly rotated# S!ipping some o the details and onto my point, "hen this happened it completely turned my school e9perience into a nightmare# ;y grades dropped to the lo"est point you could possibly get "ithout ailing the grade itsel and I turned into someone "ho "as mad, angry and didnFt "ant anyone around me# ;y riends remained my riends but my enemies lead into ights# At home, I "as responsible or !eeping my dad alive at times rom changing things that lead into his veins to changing a colostomy# These "ere things my mother could not handle doing hersel # ;y ather "as at one point under my supervision at the age o E0 or EK# @is li e "as in my hands and my li e "as up or grabs$ anyone "ho sa" me could mold me into "hat I "anted# And in a "ay, society in general did that# It molded me into someone "ho could ight, "ho "as mean and tough and did things he "anted# @aving no athersF guidance "as the "orst thing to ever happen to me# As a year or so "ent on, my ather began "al!ing again# @e began doing things around the house rom a miraculous recovery and not only that, he changed in many "ays or the good# This change "asnFt instant though nor "as my o"n to revert bac! to a good son# @im and I "ent at each other a lot and lost all respect or each other#

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I hated him "ith all my guts# As high school became a reality, I "as not ready# /ut some "ay, someho" I made it through# ;y grades again began to rose reshman year and then sophomore year came and another reality hit? divorce# ;y mother had been cheating on my ather and arguments "ere constant up until I "as near my senior year# ;y grades again "ere at the lo"est point possible "ithout ailing the actual grade and even more <Fs than 4Fs# Even in <rench class, my o"n language, I sa" 4Fs and <Fs# It made me "ant to die at one point and lead to many psychological problems# As senior year "as here, the divorce "as inal# ;y mother le t my disabled ather "ith very little to no money and I had to ollo" my mom to an apartment that my dad "as paying or her because she didnFt "ant to "or!# @e "ould send money to my mother or me and she "ould use it or "hat she "anted and even "ith my ather giving her the money to pay the apartment rent, she eventually lost the apartment because o lac! o pay# I could not live "ith my dad due to our problems and the act he lived in a home "ith very little to no electricity, I ound my "ay to many homes and eventually my grandmothers "here I resided or a couple o years# ;y mother ound her a boy riend o "hich she lives "ith no" and my dad ound himsel a very nice house "here he happily resides at# )o money troubles, never having to "or! again, a ather o his o"n and a man "ho "ent through hell and bac! to ma!e a recovery to "here he can "al!, play pool, nearly s"im, pretty much anything he "ants# @is le t hand is permanently stuc! in a position ho"ever and one leg is slightly shorter than the other# In the ne9t year or so my ather turned into a man o :od and "ho respected me li!e I havenFt seen be ore# Iur relationship changed to "here I go and see him and have un "ith him every e" days# I try my best to do the same "ith my mother as "ell# Loo!ing bac! at ho" hard my amily li e "as it ma!es me very sic! at times to thin! o "hat happened but I !no" something is missing in this# Some other part to complete the trio o problems is missing$ that o "hich is "ho am I>

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Personality @aving issues "ith my amily and a language barrier is one thing, but "hen you are a person "ho is di erent rom most others is "here things get tough# 4uring my younger years o ten times instead o doing my home"or! I "ould ocus on other things# )ot toys, but animals and science# As a child, I devoted almost all o my time to these areas# I course, I played bas!etball "ith riends and hung out but in a "ay my personality harmed me# Instead o doing "hat I needed or school, I "as learning about animals# This "as not all bad ho"ever because I used to "rite boo!s on animals and science# /ut instead o reading my school te9tboo!, I "ould read a &hysics te9tboo!# Instead o reading about math problems, I read about 7oology# I loved "olves and at one point even created a tiny charity or them "here I sold boo!s to people in my neighborhood and school and had a "ebsite# I developed my English more and more this "ay as "ell# I developed "riting s!ills and logic s!ills greatly, but at the cost o s!ills you learn in school# This also set me a"ay rom some people I couldFve called my riends because I did not "ant to go out as o ten as other !ids "ould and i I did go out o ten times it "as to "al! to the la!e near my house or study nature# This really hurt my school e9perience because I lost interest and eventually led me to go to a psychologist# A ter some time they made me ta!e an IC test in "hich I scored around the EK1Fs and "ouldFve been assigned to higher education courses had my grades been higher# School just never interested me and today I understand "hy? it "as too easy# I "asnFt challenged enough# 6hen !ids "ere learning pre8algebra, I "as learning Conceptual &hysics# I had no time in my o"n mind to learn such things or even try# This "ent on all the "ay until my senior year# 6here a couple o my teachers challenged me, most notably my physics teacher and I e9celled# ;y irst A on a report card in high school# I got a E01L in the class, than!s to e9tra credit, and didnFt miss one 5uestion on the inal e9am# I "as luc!y to even

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graduate though, because all my other grades "ere near <Fs# )onetheless, I passed and "as inally done "ith high school# ;y personality eventually lead me onto solving things bet"een my ather and I and made me reali7e a lot more than I ever did# I changed mysel and I began loo!ing into :od or ans"ers# In all my studies o science, I have al"ays believed in :od and I believe science proves @im# %ecently through my e9erting trials o li e I have dedicated mysel even more to my religion# This has helped me so tremendously because at one point in my li e I used to cut mysel and try to !ill mysel # /uilding a stronger aith has not only helped me succeed in my personal li e, but also in school# ;y grades in college have risen tremendously and this semester I am on the "ay o obtaining straight AFs, my goal# Through religion I have not only learned to put my aith in a higher po"er, but also to have aith in my o"n abilities# )ot only this, but also because o school I have more o a connection to :od because the trials that I ace, I do not go through alone# Mery e" people !no" me as much to !no" that I am a ;essianic Je"# And through that aith I am happy to understand more about my o"n personality but not just because o that, but because o the trials I have aced in school# I no" understand more than ever my personality and "ho I am and school played a big role# Knowledge and Disposition; Per orman!e So ho" e9actly did school play a role in "ho I am> A ter all, all I did "as mess around and slac! o # The ans"er is simple? 3no"ledge# The trials o school and the problems I aced during school helped to mold me into "hat I am today# Nou do not have to pay attention in school to gain the central theme# Some people understand it and some do not$ this is their disposition# Their state o mind and their o"n reality is one and only# Through trials o hardship in li e "e gain !no"ledge and disposition in school# )o matter "hat grade "e get, that statement is very true# 6hat happens in school is a great deal o "ho "e become# I have passed the stage o

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gaining !no"ledge and I have passed the stage o my disposition, but "hat no"> It is no", through per ormance, I share this# It is "hy I become a teacher# ;y urge to reveal othersF potential$ to loo! bac! on "ho I "as and "hy I became "ho I am no" is my pillar to helping others# Through per ormance, I reveal my !no"ledge and disposition# /ut also through the !no"ledge I "ill learn rom the children I teach "ill I gain an even better disposition and "ill lead mysel to a better per ormance# It is through these trials that "e change# It is through these problems that "e ind ourselves# It is through the emergence o obstacles comes the de eat o a parallel being$ that "e de eat our sel in order to become our sel

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%e erences /iddle, J# ,0112-# I)TASC &rinciple '(# I)TASC (# %etrieved January 0Hth, 01EJ, rom http?++"""#bsu#edu+cte+rpm+e9amples+julie+intasc+re lection+(#html