My name is Kaitlin Clark and though I have moved around a lot in my life, I would consider myself a California native. I was born in Riverside, CA and then moved to Visalia, CA when I was 2 years old. I only lived there until I was 4 though, because then my family and I moved to Olympia, Washington. In Olympia was where I attended 2 different elementary schools (Peter G. Schmitt Elementary for kindergarten and MClane Elementary for 1st and part of 5th grade). Then I moved to Vista, CA for my last half of 5th grade. I have remained in Vista until now, so I attended Guajome Park Academy charter school for middle school and high school, then got my A.A at Palomar, and now I'm currently a senior at CSUSM.
I would definitely say that I have been using different types of technology my whole life. I am PC person at present, but after this semester I might convert :) Thankfully the middle school and high school that I had was very unique in that they offered a lot of technology classes as electives and we had various computer labs on campus that we could use. It was in middle school and high school that I learned to use Powerpoint very proficiently and other office programs semi-proficiently haha. Currently I am using the newest edition of Microsoft Office at my house, but I really don't care which one I use. Lastly, I would consider myself a person who is pretty dependent on technology. For example, I will not leave my house without my cell phone, even if it makes me 5 minutes late to class, I will turn the car around and drive back to get it. Oh and I also love to play wii, dvr my favorite shows and mess around on facebook, so yes I would say that I like technology.
After reading the CSUSM/COE Mission Statement, the part that stands out to me the most is the promotion of life-long learning. I think that this is frequently neglected or overlooked in schools; teachers often encourage their students to just complete "busy" work without persuading them to learn for enjoyment. Students need to see the value of learning in order to enjoy doing it. In order for that to happen, I firmly believe that teachers have to have a personal love of learning themselves before they can expect their students to do so. Learning is therefore an ongoing process in which both students and teachers are exchanging knowledge and disseminating information, instead of just a figure head at the front of the classroom lecturing to students about what they "need" to know. I believe that lifelong learning is promoted when teachers are the instigators of discussion instead of the sole lecturer of "essential" information. So I think I will enjoy entering the CSUSM credential program in which this type of life long learning is promoted.
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