My name is Cassie Johnson and I am from Vista, CA. I was born and raised here in North County San Diego. I went to Olive Elementary School in Vista (my second grade teacher, Mrs. Lewis, is one who inspired me to get into teaching); I attended Washington Middle School (right next door) for sixth grade then went to St. Francis (my church – yes, I’m Catholic) for seventh and eight grades. For high school, I moved away to a place I had never heard of, Temecula, and attended Temecula Valley HS. After high school, I moved right back home and vowed never to move out of San Diego ever again. I went to Palomar College right after High School and transferred to CSUSM, where I am currently working on my teaching credentials.
I think technology is awesome, a little scary at first maybe, but awesome nonetheless. When I think about it, I don’t know how the world ever functioned without the technology that we have available today. I am a PC person but the more I learn about Macs, the more I love them (I want one now!). I definitely depend on technology on a daily basis. My cordless alarm clock wakes me up in the morning, I use my digital coffee maker to wake me up for real, my truck that I drive to work has technology in it, I’m sure. I use my cell phone (with built in iPod) everyday; I sit in front of a computer all day at work and then all night at school. During my “free time” I watch television (I couldn’t survive without tivo) and movies with the use of a DVD player. I am sure that there are more ways that I use technology on a daily basis that I am forgetting at the moment.
I can’t say that the COE mission statement affected my decision to apply to CSUSM, but it is indeed a good one. I particularly like the part that states “we are committed to diversity, educational equity and social justice” I believe that diversity should always be embraced in educational settings, and all students are created equal (I know, I sound like the Declaration of Independence or something, but seriously). The “exemplified through reflective teaching, life-long learning” part is exceptionally well said as well. I believe that being a life long learner is the way to go. A very wise man that I know once said that when you want to stop learning, you should just lie down and let them throw the dirt on top of you because you might as well be dead. We should never stop learning and we should encourage our students to do the same.
