Reading, Learning, Playing

Reading books is not nearly as prevalent of a thing as it used to be. It is much more common to see a child playing with an iPad than reading a picture book. For me, that was never the case. I learned to read when I was four years old. I fell in love with reading. I was fascinated with the way that books brought words to life, and quickly began reading longer and more complex books. By the time that I was in fifth grade, I started giving writers like John Steinbech, Margaret Mitchell, Jane Austen, etc. That is when I truly fell in love with reading. My classmates always poked fun at me for reading such ridiculously long books, and even for the fact that I enjoyed reading. It was not from a rude place and it did not bother me, they just did not understand. I finished Gone With the Wind in two weeks and, still to this day, it is my all-time favorite book.

Another thing that I really enjoy to do is play. I know--it sounds vague, but it explains me well. When I say playing, I do not mean playing with toys or video games by myself, it represents one of the most important things to me: children. I am a huge advocate of children. I believe that all children have huge potential and they will succeed based on how much we believe in them. This also connects with my love for reading. I have worked in a Montessori school for about six years now, and I am so thankful for the emphasis they put on reading. I worked late stay there every day after school, and almost an hour of my time there went to reading with children. It is so fun to see their faces light up when you turn the page and they are shocked by what is next. Children can also often relate to the characters in the stories they read about, and that helps them to understand they are not alone.

My love for reading started at a young age--and thankfully I improved from there!

Introduction to Technology Assignment

For this assignment, you will be submitting a teaching video on YouTube.

Step 1: Take a video of yourself teaching a lesson on something from your teaching major. This needs to be a minimum of four minutes.
Step 2: Upload it onto your computer.
Step 3: Go to YouTube.com
Step 4: Click sign in. Use one of your gmail accounts.
Step 5: Click upload. Choose the video from your library and after selecting it, click "upload" this may take a few minutes.
Step 6: Give the video a name that is easily recognizable and includes your name and topic that you are teaching. (ex: OliviaBauerMultiplication)
Step 7: Click "add description" Most a paragraph (5-8 sentences) describing your video.
Step 7: Ask a minimum of three students in the same class to watch the video and give it feedback.
Step 8: After you have a minimum of three comments on your video, copy the URL at the top of the page, and paste the URL in the discussions box.
**If your URL does not work, you will receive a 0.

Grading Rubric

Name of Video	5
Upload Video	5
Description of Video	5
Lesson found applies to assigned teaching major	5
URL of video	5
3 comments	10
Total Possible Points	35

All About Me

       My name is Olivia Bauer and I am a sophomore at The University of Arkansas. I am from St. Louis, Missouri and am an educational studies major. I love to read, explore, and most importantly, hang out with kids. I have always been passionate about children, so making the decision to major in a subject that revolved around children was an easy choice. I am currently in my second semester of interning at St. Joseph's Catholic School and I am loving it. I am hoping to graduate with my Bachelor's in Educational Studies and then move on to a masters program in psychology.

       I am the first in my family to show a passion for working with children. However, a few years ago, my mom, who at the time had an accounting major from Vanderbilt University, went back and got her graduates in psychology. She now works for a non-profit and goes to the houses of the family she works with. She loves her job and she was what inspired me to want to be a child psychologist. I have always been very discerning, and love understanding why people do what they do. I want to be a child psychologist because I know that I will be able to make a difference in so many children's lives, and that is my ultimate goal in life.