A Little Bit About Elissa

Elissa Spina
21 years old
Future Special Education Teacher 

Hello Everybody welcome to my blog!  Blogging is all new to me but I am very excited to get involved with it and play around.  I consider this my online math journal and will add things I learn throughout my college years.

Now a little bit about me....

My name is Elissa and I am currently in my last semester at Mesa Community College.  Have been attending MCC for the past three years and I am excited to finish.  I will be attending Arizona State University Fall of 2013 to complete my bachelors degree in Special Education and Elementary Education.  I am very excited for this next chapter of my life and I can finally begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel!  What an amazing feeling to have two years left of school and then I will be a certified teacher!  I am very excited for the future and can't wait for what's to come.

Why I want to be a teacher.....

I have known I have wanted to be a teacher since seventh grade.  This was when I started volunteering at my junior high with the special needs classroom and I really developed a love for these students.  I always knew I was different from other kids when I was younger because I would look at special needs students differently.  I can remember all the way back to first grade when I made friends with a specials needs girl on the playground. Although she was in a wheelchair, I didn't see her any differently than any other person and considered her a good friend.  So from the time I was younger, special needs people fascinated me and I wanted to learn from them.  All throughout junior high I volunteered in the PALS program and Mrs. Shown was the teacher in this classroom.  She was the one who really inspired me to love these kids, have patience with them, and made me want to be a teacher.  I learned a lot from this program and about the different behaviors of mentally challenged students.  I am currently working at Keller elementary school as an Instructional Assistant for the Occupational Therapist.  This job has required me to work with all levels of special needs students of all ages.  I enjoy being around other teachers, learning from them, and seeing what makes them successful.  So here I am today and I cannot wait to have my own classroom!!