Hello, my name is Cathy. I have just recently graduated from Texas Woman’s University with my Bachelors of Science in Child Development in December of 2015. I work at the Dallas World Aquarium and have been employed there since I graduated high school in 2012. I moved up to Denton for school last year and was a nanny for a wonderful family and I enjoyed every second of it! Being a nanny really confirmed my beliefs that I was put on this earth to care for and teach children. I was making fun lesson plans and activities that me and the child could do together and it was easy to take knowledge I had learned in my child development classes as a tool in coming up with the activities. As a child, I found myself teaching and leading others my age towards a common goal even at such a young age. I knew that I wanted to be a teacher since I was in middle school but was steered away from the profession many times by important people in my life. A semester before graduating with my Bachelors, I had a realization that teaching is what I’ve wanted to do most of my life and that I was finally going to listen to my own wants and go for it!
I am working to be certified in EC-6 ESL. I would love to have the opportunity to teach second grade during my first year of teaching. I am looking forward to teaching in the Irving Independent School District because I grew up in Irving and would love to teach alongside of the teachers who made such a big impact on my life. I chose to become certified in ESL because as a first generation Asian American, it was hard to grasp English and I remember struggling in school almost every day. I will always remember the memory of my kindergarten teacher asking me to “close the door” and I turned off the lights instead because I didn’t understand what she was asking of me. Common phrases proved to be a difficult task for me as well. For instance, I remember my teacher asking my classmate to apologize to me for something that he did, and instead of saying “it’s okay”, I replied with “you’re welcome”. I was placed in ESL from kindergarten through 3rd grade and it made a drastic improvement in my understanding of English. English quickly became fun for me and still holds first place as my favorite subject in school. I want to be able to help a student grow and be confident in the languages that they speak. I understand that communication is the key to success in lots of aspects in life and I know how it’s like to feel like an outsider because of something you can’t necessarily control at such a young age. It is my goal to educate children the way that I want my children to receive education one day. Children really are the key to the future and teachers are the gateway to that success. I am looking forward to this class and am so excited for my lifelong learning!
Cathy Pham 