Taylor has chosen to do her senior project on the career of teaching. She wants to pursue this career because she had an amazing 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Jackson, who helped her overcome challenges with ADHD and learning multiplication through song. Taylor also enjoyed teaching and answering questions for the young children she babysat. For her project, Taylor plans to research what it takes to be a good teacher, the education and certification required, a teacher's daily life challenges. She will interview her former teacher Mrs. Jackson and shadow other teachers to learn different teaching styles. Taylor will complete her required observation hours at South Elementary School and create a lesson plan for her project.

1. 153 Bluffton Rd
Mooresville NC 28115
February 4, 2013
Senior Project Committee
Mooresville Senior High School
659 East Center Avenue
Mooresville, North Carolina 28115
Dear Senior Project Committee:
I have chosen to do my senior project on the career of
teaching. I have decided to pursue this topic because I
truly enjoy working with children. I have a couple of reason
for why I want to pursue this for both my project and as a
future career. One reason is because when I was younger
I had severe ADHD and had a very hard time with school.
By the time I had reached my second year of 3rd grade, I
had already given up on math. Multiplication was too
difficult; it was hard to focus, and I did not understand any
of it. It was that year that I was blessed with an amazing
teacher, Mrs. Jackson. She figured out how to grab my
attention and keep it. Music. She taught me my
multiplication tables to the tunes of songs such as twinkle
twinkle little star and the birthday song. It stuck. To this day
as a senior in high school, I still sing my multiplication
tables in my head. That teacher made a difference in my
life and that is the main reason I would like to become a
teacher. I want to make a difference in a young childʼs life.
Taylor Dyches Thursday, May 2, 2013 8:45:00 AM ET 04:0c:ce:d7:7b:14

2. The other biggest reason is that during the summer I
earned some extra money in my neighborhood by
babysitting some of the younger children on my block.
Their ages ranged from 1-7 years old. While babysitting, I
also taught them a bit. Children are curious and ask lots of
questions that they want answers to. I had fun answering
these questions and helping those children to learn and
grow.
For the research paper part of this project I will be
focusing on the types of aptitudes needed to be a good
teacher, the education and mentorships required to
become certified, the daily life of a teacher, and the
challenges that come with the career. I have already
located many resources in the Mooresville High School
Library as well as a few articles online. I also plan to
interview my mentor, who is my old 3rd grade teacher Mrs.
Jackson. My neighbor, although not my mentor and having
nothing to do with my hours, has also offered to let me
shadow her when she goes to work to get more research
that way. Her school is in Statesville, so they are often in
school on the days that we are not. This will also allow me
to get more interviews with different teachers and learn
their different teaching styles.
I have made plans with my mentor to do my hours at
South Elementary School here in Mooresville. It will take a
lot of visits but if I leave as soon as school lets out I can
make it there by 2:25 and get almost an hour in with the
Taylor Dyches Thursday, May 2, 2013 8:45:00 AM ET 04:0c:ce:d7:7b:14

3. students. I will most likely have to do this everyday for a
while in order to complete all of my hours. For my product,
I plan to develop a lesson plan. I am not yet sure what
subject that lesson plan will be in. I am trying to decide
between a math lesson or an english lesson. The cost of
my product should not be very much at all. Pencils, paper,
sticky notes, pens, etc. Between my motherʼs home office
and my being in school, I already have most of the things I
will need to accomplish this.
I am well aware of the consequences I would face if I were
to plagiarize any part of my senior project. I know that
plagiarism means copying someone elseʼs work and
passing it off as your own. This is something I would never
do. I see the senior project as a challenge to prove to
myself and to anyone else that I am ready for both college
and the world of work. I would not be proving anything to
anyone if I stole my entire project. I promise accurately
cite and credit all of the sources I use in my paper and
provide that information to anyone who requests to see it.
Sincerely,
Taylor M. Dyches
Taylor Dyches Thursday, May 2, 2013 8:45:00 AM ET 04:0c:ce:d7:7b:14