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Emily Scholl
TEAC 259
Olmanson
Autobiography of Learning

At a very young age, I realized I loved learning, being surrounded by people, and hearing
positive comments from my teachers. While I connected with each and every one of my
teachers, it has become apparent to me which teachers led me to the path I am on now. In my
early elementary years, I didnt realize that grades were important. I paid attention when I felt
like it, and applied myself when I saw it necessary. As I grew older, more and more emphasis
was put on grades and I became competitive. The results from my hard work proved that I had
found my niche in one subject area; English.
The first test I can remember taking was in Kindergarten. Each kindergartener was
expected to bring a group of 100 items to count. Because my mom sent me to school with 100
marbles that kept rolling all over the table, I failed my first test. The teacher ended up sending a
note home with me asking my mom asking her to send cheerios, or something that wouldnt
roll away while I was counting. I wasnt upset about failing this test though because I didnt
realize I was being graded, or that grades were a way to observe progress. It wasnt until first
grade that I began comparing my progress to other students. Once or twice a week we would
watch Between the Lions on PBS in the afternoon. I remember there was a girl in my class
named Deanna who was pretty behind. She always used to fall asleep, and I thought this was
kind of unfair that she got to sleep while everyone else had to watch the show. Although, this
contrasts to how I was in second grade when I would shove worksheets under my mattress at

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home because I didnt want to do them. I knew I was being graded on them, but the
worksheets just seemed like a waste of time to me.
Being recognized for what I was doing well in school was always on my mind. The first
time I got in trouble by a teacher really hurt my ego, and from that point on I was always scared
to upset whoever was in charge. The first time I ever got reprimanded for bad behavior was in
third grade. My friend and I were laughing while the teacher was reading a book about Native
Americans. My friend asked Do Indians where undies? I started laughing hysterically, but the
teacher was not happy with us. My friend and I both got sent back to our desks, and from that
point on I tried to be a model student-until the next year.
Fourth grade really came as a shock to me; it was a trying, yet eye-opening year. This
was the first year we had a homeroom and an afternoon teacher. Because we were in fourth
grade, the teachers expected a lot more from us than they had in the past. My sister was in 7th
grade and was starting to stay up later at night, so I would stay up too. Because I wasnt getting
enough sleep at night, I would sleep during homeroom. The result was having all As in the
afternoon classes (Reading, Writing, and History), but Ds in homeroom (Math and Science.)
However, for the first time I realized I excelled at Reading, Writing, and History.
Realizing that I excelled in the English area became more apparent as I entered middle
school. In fifth grade we did a poetry unit, and every year the teacher picked a couple of the
best poems to submit to a company that published poems from elementary students across
America. My poem was chosen to be published. It may not have really been that prestigious,
but seeing my name in print made me feel like I was on the same level as J.K. Rowling.

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In high school I continued to focus my energy in the Language Arts area. For the first
time I began to realize how big of a role teachers played in the way I learned. My first research
paper was required to be 10 pages long, and we had to use a certain number of books and
online sources. This was my second experience writing a real research paper, but this was by far
the longest paper I had written. We spent almost 2 months researching and writing our papers,
and when the result came back most of the class received 85-90%. I received a 98%, which was
the highest grade in the class. This was when I decided I wanted to have a career related to
English. My love for Language Arts only grew as I entered my last year of high school. My senior
year I decided to be part of the very first school newspaper at Logan View. My teacher saw a lot
of potential in my journalism skills and asked me to be the editor of the newspaper. I was asked
to review the articles that were to be published, and I put in a lot of extra hours making sure
the paper looked good before publication. This was a frustrating responsibility, but one that
helped me grow as both a writer, and a leader. Throughout high school, many teachers told me
I had a lot of potential in English. However, it was not until one teacher, Mrs. Gillis, helped me
grow even more as a writer and a student. She pushed me to get better, and I owe my choice to
go into education to her.
As I am currently a student here at UNL, I have learned not only about technologies that
will be useful in the classroom, but also how to become a better teacher. In one of my classes I
created an e-portfolio that presented my best work from the course. Because so many thing are
moving from hard-copies to being online, I can see myself using blogs and e-portfolios in the
future. Even though I struggle to learn how to effectively use new technologies, I realize how
pertinent technology has become in our society.

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In another class, I learned about the psychology of adolescent development. This was
probably one of the best classes I have ever taken, not only because the teacher was
extraordinary, but because I loved the subject so much. I was excited to learn about how
adolescents minds worked, and how everyone goes through different stages of development
to get where they currently are. This class was extremely important in my major of being an
educator, and made me think further about how I wanted to teach my students.
If I stay on the track I am on now, I will be a high school English teacher. I specialize in
literature and writing, but I would love to teach literature even though I often find myself
questioning whether I will be happy teaching in the high school setting. The more I learn about
how school systems are set up, the more I worry about how much teachers will have to
compromise in order to teach the way the governments wants us to. However, I do think that if
I stick with this path I will be a very passionate teacher. I will stick to the basics-but make it fun.
I want students to learn how to relate what they read to the real world because when students
are able to do this, they enjoy reading more. I hope to see students continuing to read classic
novels like The Grapes of Wrath, Lord of the Flies, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, etc.
Being able to interpret texts like these, in addition to modern texts, builds students
comprehension skills and allows them to be versatile. I also think being able to analyze what
they have read is very important. Realizing that students are prone to cheating, I think short
papers would be much more effective than quizzes and tests.
Because technology is slowly replacing many old ways of teaching and learning, I think
the way English is taught will change slightly as well. Although, English is a very steadfast
language and I dont foresee any major changes in how we teach it. However, I do see a lot of

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ways technology could be incorporated into teaching the subject. In the future we will see a lot
of books moving to digital copies. People will be reading books on tablets or laptop computers,
and Im not entirely sure if this will be beneficial or not. Paper copies of books allow students to
make notes on the pages, but many digital books have audio companions. These audio
companions may be very helpful for those trying to learn the English language (ELL). Audio book
help those who are not usually interested in reading to engage more in the book.
Because I came from a very small, rural area, I dont think my district realized what a big
role technology was going to play in our future lives. As I go through the pivotal moments in my
education, I realize that very few of them involved technology. Perhaps this is because I was not
really interested in learning about technology, or perhaps it is because I was not introduced to
as much technology as I should have been. Either way, I believe I received a good education;
one that allowed me to be versatile in the way I learned. Knowing that the uses for technology
are only going to increase, as an educator I realize it is my job accommodate to this. As I go
through my childhood education, I can see how the use of technology has evolved from using
marbles and cheerios in kindergarten, to using Photoshop and InDesign my senior year of high
school. My plan as a teacher is to find as many ways as possible to incorporate technology into
the lessons plans, but not to rely on it as a way to teach. It seems like often times teachers let
students loose with technology and say Here, learn how to do this! This is one of the reasons
people see teaching as a profession that does not require a lot of effort much from the teacher.
As we can see, education continues to evolve as new tools are being developed to help
us teach. Throughout my schooling, I have learned many important lessons, some involving
technologies, and some without. I want my students to carry some of those same lessons along

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with them, and I hope to be a teacher that impacts my students in more ways than just learning
about the subject matter. I believe the most important roles a teacher has are to be warm,
compassionate, and supportive. At the same time we must know how to reprimand and lead
students along the right path in their education.