My name is Michele McLarney and I currently teach full-time in a catholic elementary PreKindergarten program on Long Island.  I have attended catholic school since I was four years old all the way up to my college career and my education has played a big part in the person I have become.  Along with the many academic skills I have learned, my catholic school education has instilled positive moral values and religious guidance upon me. 

     I grew up on Long Island and have the wonderful privilege of being surrounded by a big family.  I am the daughter of two loving parents and a sister to my younger brother and older sister.  Their constant love and support has encouraged me to pursue my dream of becoming a teacher.  I also enjoy baking, cooking and crafting.  My love for baking and cooking comes from the passion that both my grandmas and my mom portray in their kitchens.  My grandparents are always in the kitchen baking and cooking up our favorite meals.  Although I can never recreate their foods’ exact tastes I am always eager to try and create tastes of my own.  My baking and cooking can relate to who I am as a teacher.  I am passionate with my performance in the classroom and eager to see the end result at the end of the day.

     Every teacher has an experience that inspires him or her to pursue the education field.  School was always a challenge for me.  I lacked the motivation to learn and as I think back to test taking, a good majority was from memorization rather than knowledge.  My inspiration to become a teacher comes from when I was in fifth grade. To this day I can still remember the lessons my fifth grade teacher would teach in science.  When I reflect on her lessons that stood out the most, I realize that it was the amount of enthusiasm and excitement that she incorporated that intrigued her students to want to know more.  It was with her passion that motivated me to learn.  I recently ran into my fifth grade teacher at our local Home Depot store.  I made sure to let her know how much of an impact she has been for me as a learner and now as a teacher.  As we both stood there with happy tears rolling down our cheek, it is clear to the both of us why we chose the teaching profession. 

     After I graduated with my Bachelors Degree, most fellow graduates wanted to go back to school for their Master’s degree, but I was eager to enter the working field as a full-time teacher to apply all that I learned and gain new teaching experiences.  After five years of substitute teaching and teaching full-time in a class of my own I decided it was time to further my education in Literacy at Hunter College.  I was both excited to start something new, yet scared to get back in the swing of things.  I was still learning from my first year of teaching full-time and was overwhelmed by the idea of juggling graduate level assignments.  Once I started I found the professors to be very accommodating and helpful and the courses to be much more manageable than expected.  I struggled with a few assignments that were outside of my comfort zone, but I realized that every experience is a learning experience and I should complete the challenging assignment with an open mind and willingness to learn from it. 

     Just as adults have challenges with learning new materials or grasping new concepts in the working world, students go through the same challenges.  My goals as a teacher are to assure that all students receive the help and guidance they need to succeed not only in school, but in their future.