Today we get to hear from Wendy Packer, a current student in the Early Childhood Education program. Wendy is from Sandy, UT and started BYU in 2016. She loves reading, ballet, and water coloring.
Wendy currently works as an instructor at a charter school in Alpine, UT.
When asked why she wanted to become a teacher she explained, "I was a weirdo that always loved school. I have also never done well in working environments that include doing the same thing everyday. I love how teaching gives you various subjects everyday and that every class you get each year is so different. Plus, you get to color and do all the fun kids crafts again without being judged!"
Although she is in the Early Childhood Ed program, she currently works as an instructor at Mountainville Academy, a charter school in Alpine. She teaches two different levels of math classes, one 5th grade pre-algebra class, and a lower-level 4th grade math class. From her experience so far, she said, "I’ve learned so much about being a teacher and about how to connect with kids and I love going to work everyday!"
Wendy says the best part of teaching is the relationships that she gets to build with the kids. She explains, "My favorite part of teaching is watching them grow and succeed throughout the year. It's always the best when you see a concept click for a student who has been struggling. Or when you walk into class and you have a crayon-drawn picture of you and one of your students."
When asked why she chose early childhood education, she explained, "I’ve always wanted to be a teacher! I knew that the older that kids get, the less they like school. So I wanted to teach early education because it's more than just teaching academics. You get to teach valuable life long skills through play and music and the kids don’t think you’re too weird."
When asked what advice she would give to someone interested in teaching, she said, "It’s the best job in the world! There is never a dull moment and you’re always learning new things and being challenged to be better then you were the day before. It is a lot of hard work, but it’s so fun and you find that you’ll do anything to make the perfect lesson for your students."