AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY
ABE
Autobiographical Essay
Shelli Hansen
Professor Carol Billing
EDU 201 Foundations of Education
Spring 2013
1
2
Autobiographical Essay
As a child, I dreamed of becoming a teacher. I played school with my dolls and stuffed
animals as a small child and then with my siblings as I grew older. I believe that if the love of
learning is developed and nurtured from the earliest age possible, then life itself becomes the
ultimate learning environment. My love of learning continues to drive my passion for teaching
and giving my students the optimum learning experience.
Educational Background
My educational journey began in Eugene, Oregon. Kindergarten was not publicly offered and
my family could not afford it, so I did not attend Kindergarten. I remember my best friend Cathy
did, and when she would come over to my house and tell me all about it, I really felt like I was
missing out.
We moved around a lot when I was in elementary school. I went to a different school almost
every year. School seemed to come easy to me and I enjoyed it very much. I don’t think I had
too much trouble making friends, but keeping them was a little more challenging with the
frequent moves.
We moved to Vancouver, Washington when I started Junior High School. One of the classes
that really stood out to me as being a difference maker was typing. Having typing skills has
really helped me with working on the computer. I finished my schooling in Vancouver and
really enjoyed being able to get involved in programs like band and student government. I also
began working part time at a daycare center while I was in high school and really enjoyed
working with kids.
I married soon after high school and did not go right into college. I went back to work in a
3
child care center. During that period, I obtained my Child Development Associate and became a
head preschool teacher. I loved being a teacher and wanted even more education. I decided to
enroll Clark College where I got an AA in Early Childhood Education.
I taught preschool for 7 years at a child care center and was involved in Head Start there. In
1996, I moved to Idaho where I began working with the Parents as Teachers program. I was a
parent educator/home visitor for 7 years and really enjoyed that experience, but I missed the
classroom.
In 2001, I opened Learning Partners Preschool in Meridian and have been teaching there
since. We offer preschool and pre-kindergarten classes. With the growing class sizes and
budget cuts over the last few years, I have had many families approach me about offering
Kindergarten.
I decided last year to take the plunge and go back to school for an Elementary Ed degree. I
am currently offering a supplemental Kindergarten program for children who might need a little
extra one-on-one. I am enjoying being back in school and the challenges that it brings. I am
excited to pursue my teaching certification and to be able to offer a quality program at Learning
Partners Preschool & Kindergarten.
Work History
My work history began with a paper route when I was 12 years old, followed by berry picking
in the summers and a lot of babysitting. When I was sixteen, I began working at a local daycare
center. I really enjoyed working at the daycare. I continued working at the daycare through high
school.
After the birth of my first daughter, I began working at a child care center. I was an assistant
4
preschool teacher. As an assistant preschool teacher, I began to watch the interactions between
the teacher and students and began to think about how I might do things similar or different than
she did. I knew that I needed more education before I had my own class and so that is when I
made a commitment to the career of teaching and began my education.
I stayed at the child care center for ten years and slowly worked my way to head teacher. I
did things a little differently than the others, but my director allowed me the freedom to do things
my way because she liked the results. At the end of my time at the child care center, I moved
into parent education and ran parent meetings and trainings. I liked the interactions with parents,
but missed the classroom and working with children.
In 2000, we moved to Idaho and I began working as a parent educator/home visitor for the
Parents as Teachers program. It was a great program that provided one-on-one parenting
education with the parents and child. The program was only designed for 0-3 years and families
wanted something for their children when they turned 3. I opened Learning Partners Preschool
in 2001 to fill this gap for the graduated PAT families. I started with 7 children in the nursery of
a church and have grown to 4 classes with 40 children in our own space. I love the combination
of working with the children in the classroom and the daily interaction and partnership with
parents. I am excited to extend my professional life to become a kindergarten teacher.
Service and/or Extra-Curricular Activities
Over the course of my career in early childhood and parent education, I have been involved in
extra-curricular service that has really helped me to grow both personally and
professionally. One of my favorite extra-curricular activities is working with parents. I believe
that parent engagement is the key to success for children and families and I love to be a part of
5
involving parents in their children’s education and helping them to obtain the tools that they need
to have strong and thriving families.
In 2007, I volunteered at the Baby Boutique in Nampa and worked with them to develop a
parent education program for the families that they serve. I worked with a parent leader to plan
and deliver parenting topics to parents of young children. I enjoyed working with the parent
leader and watching her confidence and skill level grow and watching her interact with the other
parents and become a successful leader.
In 2011, I began service at Marian Pritchett in Boise where I led a parenting class every
Wednesday for teen moms. This experience was very eye-opening for me and I think that I
learned as much from the girls as they learned from me. The class was very diverse with a large
African refugee population and the culture differences were amazing. Just facilitating discussion
between the girls and breaking down stereotypes was life changing to watch. These girls who
attended school together every day had no idea what the others’ lives were like. I loved it! This
class really helped me to break down my own biases and stereotypes both personally and
professionally.
This September I participated in a training program for Family Advocates for their new
volunteer Home Visiting program. Although formal training is not in my comfort zone, I was
able to use a power point with my conversation-style to deliver the topic that I was asked to train
on. I am more comfortable facilitating conversations than I am delivering a power point training,
but I think the experience is good for me.
The extra-curricular activities that I have participated in have greatly benefited me, both
personally and professionally. I have a passion for parenting and love to be a part of the support
6
that families need to thrive and be successful. I hope to be able to continue this type of service
as I move forward in my career.
Reasons for Choosing Education as a Career
I have wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember. I am amazed by the mind of a
child and the wonders of learning. I have always been continually challenged by the notion of
providing a unique learning environment and experience for each one of my students. For this
reason, I have made education my career. I have explored many different avenues in education
during the last 25 years. I have worked in child care, parent education, home visiting, preschool,
pre-k and kindergarten. Because I believe in the importance of early learning, pre-k and
kindergarten will continue to focus my education and career.
Professional Goals
My professional goals seem to be ever-evolving. I have been teaching preschool and pre-k in
my own center for the last 10 years. In the last 2 years, I have been strongly pulled in the
direction of adding Kindergarten to my school programs. I had thought about hiring a
Kindergarten teacher, but then began to entertain the thought of becoming just that myself.
Long term, I would like to become a certified elementary education teacher. I have started a
supplementary Kindergarten program to my school and have really enjoyed getting to know the
common core and state standards and applying them to the children that I am working with. The
families in my program now know me and trust me, but I would like to be able to market my
Kindergarten program and offer an alternative to public school classes that seem to becoming
more and more crowded. I would love to be able to offer a learning environment that is flexible
7
and meets the needs of all of the students.
Short term, I need to finish this elementary education program at CWI and then begin work
on turning my ECE degree and my Elementary Ed degree into a BA in Elementary at Boise State
University. I, then would like to become a certified teacher.
I am excited about this new
professional journey to become a certified teacher and teach Kindergarten privately in my
center. I love the one-on-one interaction that I can provide to the students. I believe that all
children have special skill sets and personalities and I want to help my students reach their
potentials in a flexible and safe learning environment.
My passion for teaching has been developing over the course of my whole life. I knew as a
young child that I wanted to teach. My own love for learning has inspired me to nurture a love
for learning in children at the earliest age possible. I believe that a true love for learning is the
foundation for lifelong success. I am excited to continue my adventure in education and to be
able to provide a learning environment that gives all of my students the opportunities to succeed.