Karley Keiper Write Up

I came into this visit with an open mind to learn what Karley Keiper had to talk about. I am glad I

was ready to listen to what she had to teach us, because she brought so much to the visit. Karley is a

graduate from Butler who had the dream of becoming a Kindergarten teacher. She ended up becoming

a Special Education teacher. Therefore, it is so important to be open-minded when going into any

profession because you never know where you will fit in best. She learned so much when going through

many different jobs at schools. The first year is the hardest for many reasons. It is especially important

that we do self-care and make sure we are staying healthy. We need to balance our work life and our

lives outside of work. Talking about self-care relates back to our ABT book because it mainly focuses on

taking care of ourselves.

The wordle I created above shows all the words Karley Keiper said that inspired me the most.

She talked about having trust in who you are and not comparing yourself to others. Just because

someone gets a job in the school you wanted does not mean you are not qualified. It could just mean

that you were not fitted for that specific position. We need to trust the process, and trust that
everything will play out the way it is supposed to. We have come so far, but there is always still room to

grow.

We talked about tech in the education system which connects to our book, Tech Like a Pirate.

Karley spoke about how technology can be a great resource in the classroom. They used a Facebook

group so that the teachers could post the students' work and keep the parents updated. This way,

students were able to tell their families about what they were doing at school. They also had a local

paper where they got to know other people in their school and used social media to share their work

with the world. Tech Like a Pirate also taught us numerous ways to use social media in the classroom.

The core value, “Learn from, Contribute to, and Apply Theory and Research” talks about how

we should be challenging who we are and engaging with research. Using tech in the classroom

can be challenging and engaging for students.

I have learned so many things to benefit my future career as a teacher. Karley gave me a deeper

understanding of what the teacher’s role is in the classroom and my potential life as a professional. The

teacher’s role is to provide a safe place for students where they feel comfortable learning. If you are in a

bad place, your students will be in a bad place. As teachers, we need to make sure we take care of

ourselves so that we can give our students our all. In the future when I am preparing to become an

educator, I want to remember that boundaries are huge. I need to take time off work, and when I am

not working, I am NOT working. I want to make it clear to parents when I am available or not available,

because it is important to take time off for myself.