Hello to all! My name is Katie Murphy and I am one of the lead student teachers in Pod A for this exciting summer semester. I am looking forward to the wonderful experience that I will gain in working with you and your children. Teaching children is a community effort. It is the job of the teachers and parents to work together in helping children expand on their knowledge through supportive learning. Preschool is the time to show children how fun learning can be, and inspire them to want to learn more. I believe that the children and I have an equal amount of knowledge to share among one another in the classroom. They will help me gain a better understanding of how to best interact and teach preschool aged children, and in return I will help them in the process of building  their developmental skills.

I have been interested in child development for the past three years. At first, Child development was my minor, but I quickly switched it to my major because I found child development was very interesting and intriguing. What I found most fascinating was the amount a child grows from birth to five years old; for instance, a child’s brain grows 90% of its adult size by age five. This inspired me to want to work with young children to help foster proper growth in all areas of development.

My strong interest in child development has inspired me to make future plans to attend Oakland University in the fall to work towards my masters in elementary education. While working on my masters, I plan to search for a Head Start lead teaching position in the Metro Detroit area.  After completing my masters and gaining a few years of experience, I plan on going onto a doctoral program in Child Development to become a researcher and professor.

Outside of my interest of child development, I love being around nature and I enjoy going on hikes.  I also love any kind water activity. When I first moved to Mt. Pleasant, I was thrilled to find out about the many wonderful nature trails and how beautiful the Chippewa river is.

I am from Livonia, MI, which is just outside of Detroit. I often go home one weekend a month to visit my parents and miniature poodle. I have a sister, named Elizabeth, who also attends CMU. She is a sophomore in the Business program, majoring in Marketing and Logistics.

As this summer semester continues I encourage parents, family and friends to keep updated on our new classroom blog. It will be updated each day to include activities the children have done for that day, along with pictures. Once again I look forward in working with and getting to know you and your children more.

Sincerely,

Katie Murphy