My name is Kelly Getz. I graduated from Bloomsburg University with a BSBA (Marketing) in 2002. Afterwards I had several jobs, but never landed the career of my dreams. I began to question my career path and desired to go back to school to become a teacher.
In the summer of 2009, I returned to Bloomsburg University as a graduate student in the Elementary Education Department. While in school, I worked as an aide in a co-taught classroom for one year. I also received an emergency permit to substitute teach. I continued to substitute in several districts as I completed my program. In the fall of 2011, I received my Master’s in Education (K-6).
Since then I have been substituting at Shenandoah Valley Elementary. While I do work every day, I am not full-time (as they eliminated that position due to budget cuts). Considering my position, I have the privilege of working with students at all grade levels in all subject areas.
I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE my job, but unfortunately I cannot afford to substitute much longer. I know that I made the right choice in changing my career path, and I would really hate to have to leave this most rewarding career due to financial reasons.
I have been taking reading specialist and ESL courses through Wilkes University since last spring. In April, I received my ESL certification and was recently certified in Language Arts 7-12. I am continuing to pursue a second master’s in the reading program. I am looking forward to continuing my education and learning new techniques so that I can pass these skills onto the students I work with daily.
Besides teaching and taking classes (2 this summer), I have three wonderful children that keep my husband and I extremely busy! Of course most my time enters around them and running to dance class, soccer, basketball, or cheerleading . I also have a 12 year old Jack Russel, Zoie (my baby), a 5 year old Husky, Echo, and a cat, Meeko. Additionally, next week I will begin teaching at the ESL After-school Program at my school.
Even though I am a substitute, I still infuse my own creativity into the lessons that I am teaching. Working in a small school has allowed me to develop relationships with all of the teachers, so I am aware of their expectations. With this in mind, I utilize Google, Pintrest, and Teachers Pay Teachers to locate resources and activities to hold in my "bag of tricks" for when the occasion arises. I have also had a short term assignment in Kindergarten last year and 2nd grade this year, so I was able to use those resources more during those times.
During both of these short term assignments, I worked with a co-teacher in an inclusion classroom. It was nice having someone to share ideas with and work collaboratively with on developing lessons.
At this point, the biggest challenge I face when incorporating new ideas is ensuring that the new concept is fitting for the particular group of students. Even though I know all of the students in the school, I do not work with the same group everyday. .
I look forward to working with all of you this semester!
