Alissa Anderson completed her senior project by creating and teaching a math unit lesson plan to a Kindergarten class at Indian Knoll Elementary School. She worked closely with her project facilitator, Mrs. Brandy McConnell, who was formerly her second grade student teacher. Through the process, Alissa learned more about teaching and realized she wanted to pursue a career in law instead. She reflected on personal skills she strengthened like organization, time management, and professional communication. Alissa concluded her presentation by discussing her plans to major in Business Administration at Kennesaw State University to prepare for law school.

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Alissa Anderson
Susan Lester
Advanced Grammar and Composition
5 March 2012
Speech Essay
How many little girls do you know of that aspire to be just like their mother when they
grow up?For me, it all started in Kindergarten; I think I had a special type of connection with the
teachers in my school. My mom had taught at the elementary school I attended, so you could say
I had a “home court advantage.” I had a close bond with every single one of my teachers
Kindergarten through the 5th grade. I got to stay after school, run errands for teachers, I got to
check their mailboxes(which was exciting as a kid), play hide-n-go seek during Pre and Post
Planning weeks with other teacher’s kids, and I got to see all the perks of being a teacher.In
middle school, we soon get the pounding question; what do you want to do with your life when
you grow up?As much as some people discouraged my answer, I wanted to be a teacher. I
wanted to follow in my mother’s footsteps, and I wanted to have a fun life while impacting our
future from the beginning stages.In high school, we start hearing about the senior project;
teachers and kids always asking, do you have any ideas? What are you going to do? As a
freshman I had a good idea, I wanted to teach an Elementary class.
The more I grew up, the more the economy tanked; this meant that all the teachers that I
had grown up with started warning me about the changes the school system would go through.
The issue of increasing class size was often brought to my attention by numerous teachers.They
often tried to explain to me how much it affects how enjoyable teaching is.Everything they

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would tell me was backed up by my research on class size. It affects the students and the teacher
much more than an outsider would think it does.I got to experience the effect of class size on a
teacher first hand while I was teaching my lesson to Mrs. McConnell’s Kindergarten Class.Now
I’m going to tell you about my project facilitator.
Brandy McConnell assisted me throughout my senior project. I was looking for an
experienced, dependable teacher that I knew personally from growing up being close to many
Elementary School teachers.My project facilitator was once my student teacher in the 2nd grade
at Holly Springs Elementary School. We’ve kept in touch with each other even after she
finished her student teaching in Mrs. Whitmire’s class.She now teaches Kindergarten in the same
Elementary School that my mom does.Mrs. McConnell received her Masters Degree in Early
Childhood Education at Piedmont College,after she had earned her Bachelor’s Degree at
Reinhardt College. In the spring of 2002, Brandy McConnell student taught Mrs. Whitmire’s 2nd
grade class at Holly Springs Elementary School.She then carried on teaching first grade for five
years at Hickory Flat Elementary School; after that, Mrs. McConnell began teaching
Kindergarten for four additional years. While teaching at Hickory Flat Elementary School she
was asked to take the responsibility of being Grade Level Chair. Brandy McConnell is now part
of the opening staff at Indian Knoll Elementary School. She is currently teaching a Kindergarten
class at Indian Knoll as a Teach 21 teacher. Her many years of experience in different grade
levels and schools was very helpful in assisting me throughout my project.
With the guidance of my facilitator, I completed my final product step by step.The first thing my
project facilitator and I discussed was the overview of the entire project, and what the final
product was going to be.She then tried to get me to realize how much work actually goes into
planning a unit lesson plan.After going home and deciding what subject area I would enjoy

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teaching the most, I met with my facilitator to discuss what would be the most realistic for me to
do. I chose to create a math unit lesson plan, as math is my favorite subject and my facilitator
sent me home to think and research about different activities I could do with the students.We
then had to look to the future to see when the final product was due to ensure I taught the lesson
on time. The problem with this is that it gave me a much narrower selection of what I could teach
the children. I didn’t want to mess up their schedule to accommodate my senior project
schedule.I decided to be flexible and teach whatever standards they were covering at the time I
was going to present my lesson, but I also wanted the lesson to be beneficial to their future, not
just coloring inside the lines.After research into the Georgia Performance Standards, I finally
decided I would make my unit lesson plan to follow the MKN1h standard. I would be teaching
children for the first time ever how to identify coins by name and their value. After this, my
facilitator advised me that it would help if I could actually be around the Kindergarten class
before I started teaching.This word of advice came with an obstacle; I get out of school for Work
Basked Learning at 1:30, so the only time I could get to Indian Knoll was around 1:50. Since I
am in Work Based Learning I had to work sometimes, and she now has a family to take care of.
It wasn’t like the times in second grade where I could just go over to her house whenever. The
only thing I could do to manage to get some time in would be walking them to the bus because
they were about to leave when I would get to the school.My facilitator gave me the Kindergarten
Teacher’s Edition book so I could see what math was like on a Kindergarten level. She also
provided me with many different formats of lesson plans so that I could see which one was the
best outline for me. Finally, we sat down and brainstormed about the first lesson plan I was
going to write and teach.We discussed different attention grabbers, hands-on activities,
technology based activities, and books to include in this lesson plan.I then went home and wrote

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out the completed lesson plan with the standards, materials, procedures, etc. The first day after
winter break, I went in early and got to warm up to the kids, and did various errands for Mrs.
McConnell before I taught my lesson. There was only one technology problem I encountered,
my activator (or attention grabber wouldn’t work. The song was blocked on the Cherokee
County website, and the technology man was not there to fix this for us. This was an obstacle
that could be easily overcome though; I simply picked another song and moved on. Later, we
brainstormed the rest of the unit lesson plan. In doing the rest of the unit lesson after I taught the
first one helped us realize what we needed to cut out, and whatwas beneficial to the teaching. I
have learned a lot about myself in this project, and started reflecting more on what I want to do
with my future.
I’ve learned a lot about myself throughout the process of this senior project.I have
learned that I need to write down what I’m thinking at the time, because I don’t always
remember the idea two weeks later. I’ve learned that I am very punctual and I don’t like to do
things in the last minute. I’ve also remained very organized throughout this project. My work
always means a lot to me because I know that it reflects who I am.I have learned more personal
skills in the making of this product rather than anything else. I’ve learned how to talk to adults
on more of a business level rather than casually. In contrast, I’ve learned how you must speak to
children. After being close minded on my career prospects for the majority of my life, after this
senior project and talking to many teachers I am now realizing I need to broaden my horizon of
opportunities that are in front of me. I still want to work with people, and I don’t want to work
with robots. As of right now, one day I want to become a lawyer. I have absolutely realized that
it takes a very special person to become a teacher, and with the future changing the ways
teaching has been in the past, it takes someone who is very dedicated to their job. I still want to

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make an impact on people’s future, but I no longer want to do it in this way. I’ve decided to
tackle another big dream, and try and one day make a different impact on lives.Next year I am
attending Kennesaw State University because I simply cannot take on the challenge of being far
away from my family. Right now, I plan on majoring in Business Administration, with a minor
in psychology. This degree will better help guide myself into the doors of a prestige’s law
school. Thank you all so much for listening to my presentation, are there any questions regarding
my project?