A weakness can lead to greatness
Posted on January 7, 2010
Filed Under I'm a 50 year old stuck in a 23 year old body, Money really should grow on trees, Teaching |
Since I haven’t been teaching this year, I have done a lot of thinking with what I want to get my masters in. There are so many options for elementary school teachers such as gifted and talented, special education, environmental education, administration, etc. And then of course there is the old fashion leadership in elementary education. I have gone back and forth for a few months now with what program I wanted to do. Considering each class is $1100, it’s a pretty big deal and I can’t afford to be fickle. Yes, I pay for my own grad classes without a full time job. It’s been a tough few months. Anyway, I had talked with my advisor back in September and we came to the conclusion that I should get my masters in Gifted and Talented. At the time, I felt like it was a great idea. I know a few guys from high school that were considered gifted but due to lack of motivation, they sort of gave up on their studies and began some serious drug habits. I think they are no single dads weighing 100 lbs or working fast food. Awesome guys. I also wanted to do gifted and talented because I know that in the school system we tend to focus more of the special needs students and forget about those who need to be challenged. Although, these are great reasons to get your masters in gifted and talented education, I don’t think this particular field is for me. After talking to a friend of mine from high school (I know you are reading this right now Mama Lara and smiling :)), I realized that I work well with all different types of children and shouldn’t limit myself to one particular type of child. So, I have talked to my advisor and told her my final decision is get my masters in leadership in elementary education. I really feel like I have made a difference for several of the students I have taught so far. I may not have been able to reach them all but I can think of a few who I saw positive changes in after having me for one year. Especially the students with learning disabilities. I think from working at the SSLD office in college, I learned a lot about accomodations to give students who have a harder time in learning. Plus, I worked with a lot of special needs students in my first year of teaching. Most of these kids just needed someone to believe in them and praise them for their successes rather than focus on their disability. Yes, sometimes success was rarely met but when it was, you have to make a BIG deal about it. I mean, doesn’t everyone want to be praised when they achieve something? So, why not praise for the little things too, because in all honesty they matter the most to a lot of kids.
Like I said, I have been thinking about all of this a lot lately, so today I decided to research different celebrities who have special needs that you would never suspect. Some of these are pretty big disabilities, so it’s amazing how far they have come. They must have had very passionate teachers 
Albert Einstein- Didn’t speak until he was 3 and math and writing were very difficult for him
Alexander Graham Bell- LD (learning disability, didn’t specify)
Thomas Edison- LD, couldn’t read until he was 12
George Washington- LD,he could barely write and had poor grammar skills
Robin Williams- ADHD- yes that is quite the no brainer
Woodrow Wilson- severely dyslexic
Cher- Dyslexic
Ozzy Osborne- Dyslexic
Isaac Newton- epilepsy (those who know me really well, know this disability is a very emotional one for me)
Leonardo da Vinci- Dyslexia
Tom Cruise- Dyslexia, he still can not read well at all today and memorizes his scripts through tapes
Danny Glover- epilepsy
Walt Disney- Dyslexia
James Earl Jones, Bruce Willis, and Marilyn Monroe- stuttering (Mufasa? Really?)
Quentin Tarantino- Dyslexic
Hans Christian Anderson- Dyslexic (wrote the Emperor’s New Clothes and the Ugly Duckling)
Charles Dickens- epilepsy
Winston Churchill- Dyslexic
Harriet Tubman- Narcolepsy after being struck on the head by an overseer
Vincent Van Gogh, Napoleon Bonaparte, Michaelenglo, Julius Caesar, and Edgar Allen Poe- epilepsy
There were bunch more on http://www.albritton.us/celebs.html but these were the ones that I thought were interesting.
Comments
5 Responses to “A weakness can lead to greatness”
About Me
Content
Blogroll
Categories
- A Few of My Favorite Things
- A Little Bit About Me
- All My Single Ladies
- Camp Kumbaya
- College
- Family
- I'm a 50 year old stuck in a 23 year old body
- Lesson Ideas
- Life Can Suck
- Med School Groupie
- Money really should grow on trees
- My Beliefs
- Once a racer, always a racer!
- Pickle
- Reasons I Questions Having Children
- Road Trip!
- Stress Relievers
- Teaching
- Uncategorized
- We can dance if we want to
- Weekend Excursions
- Who needs boys when I got my girls!
Archives
Meta
I admire you so much Erin. I always have. You are so head strong when it comes to teaching. I am so glad that you have finally decided what you want to do for your masters. You have such a great talent when it comes to teaching and children. Your students will be very blessed to have you in their lives.
I think you’ve already told me this? Can’t remember. I’m too excited thinking about you being here IN MY HOUSE tomorrow!! Eee!
i never knew there were specialties. i guess it makes sense, but i never thought about it. glad you were able to make a decision and i hope it’s the right one.
and yes, that is extremely interesting about all the famous people with LDs…
YOU KNOW I’m so proud of you for how passionate you are about your career and how hard you work to learn more and be a better teacher.
You are quite the little amazing person, Erin. You have such compassion.
The celebrity facts were pretty interesting. Maybe Tom Cruise has a reason for being so silly? Maybe…