My name is Jim Sampson. I currently teach third
grade in the Washington District. I am also a computer mentor for
other teachers and will be in charge of the lab next fall. I went to
college in upstate New York and moved to Phoenix in 1993. I've been
teaching for five years and have finally found a master's program I
am greatly interested in.
I always thought about being a teacher. I didn't realize I wanted to
be a teacher until I was in college. When I was in grade school I
always thought to myself when the teacher was giving instruction
that, " There has to be a better way of doing this". If only these
lessons had a purpose . There was a purpose but they weren't telling.
Purpose and meaning are the driving force behind my teaching. In my
classroom students know why we learn certain skills and we put them
to use. If I could have learned this way maybe I would have paid more
attention. Maybe this material could have been funneled through some
interest that I had and might even enhanced more interest. I keep
this in mind when I teach .
If my teaching can enhance the outside interests of a student, then maybe they will think that school isn't such a bad place. Computers will help make this link even better and I want to learn as much as possible so my students can open more doors to learning.