My World and Welcome to It!

These are my thoughts and opinions about life in general. I also get daily prompts from DSP which inspire me to write. If I throw in some scrapbook pages I've done, photos I've taken, and stories about me, you will have an idea about my loony life!

Thursday, February 05, 2009

My College Training

Blog Prompt - Did you go to college or have vocational training - where and when?

I went to Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina for my undergraduate and graduate degree in Special Education. Special education was still a new field and not many people had heard of it before. Back home, people thought I was going into Physical Education and were amazed because I was so klutzy and uncoordinated that they couldn’t figure out why I would do this. I used to volunteer with disabled students when I was in high school and knew that I wanted to work with them as a career. I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher too. The big thing for me was that I had to decide which disabilities I wanted to work with when I came to college. I used to read books by Tobey Haydn where she tells about her experiences working with autistic children and emotionally disabled so I wanted to be just like her. I did get certified to teach emotionally disabled and learning disabled students. Yet over the years, I have taught students with all disabilities and learned that a label is just a label and that I really just teach students with difficulty learning. (This picture is when my husband and I double-dated for the prom with 2 of my students. For dinner, we went to Travinia's fine Italian restaurant. We had a wonderful time! ) I never regretted for a minute that I was meant to do this. I think sometimes we forget that God has a plan for us and we just need to have faith and follow that plan.

4 comments:

Meg said...

I love Haydn's books and her way of truly seeing the children she works with. I love that you saw your path so early and yet allowed experience to mold you into the wonderful teacher you are today!

Tammy said...

You are a wonderful teacher Pat and I'm glad you were there for those children all those years. We need many more teachers like you. Big hugs.

Unknown said...

I just wish there were more of you teaching. You are an extraordinary person. :)

Sandra said...

Your passion and dedication to your kids is wonderful to see. Educators get a bad rap these days, but you are downright inspiring.

Ok, so you kindly asked about knitting. Congratulations on sock knitting, btw! The iPod cozy is simply a tube knitted in roughly the same dimensions as the gadget you'd like to cover. I started at the top, knitted about 5 rounds, made a hole for clipping to by making a "yarn over" (that's an extra loop on the needle, as when you make lace) then continued on with the body. The closed end can be sewn shut, or grafted like a sock. The lanyard is made out of knitted iCord, but a two-strand crocheted chain would accomplish the same function. I recycled the spring clip off an old lanyard and attached with a lark's head knot to the cord. I can use this cozy for my cell phone when I don't have pockets, too.

Hope this helps. I made mine in about 3 hours and I use it every day.

Take care, Pat!