153 Bluffton RdMooresville NC 28115February 4, 2013

Senior Project CommitteeMooresville Senior High School659 East Center Avenue Mooresville, North Carolina 28115

Dear Senior Project Committee:

I have chosen to do my senior project on the career of teaching. I have decided to pursue this topic because I truly enjoy working with children. I have a couple of reason for why I want to pursue this for both my project and as a future career. One reason is because when I was younger I had severe ADHD and had a very hard time with school. By the time I had reached my second year of 3rd grade, I had already given up on math. Multiplication was too difficult; it was hard to focus, and I did not understand any of it. It was that year that I was blessed with an amazing teacher, Mrs. Jackson. She figured out how to grab my attention and keep it. Music. She taught me my multiplication tables to the tunes of songs such as twinkle twinkle little star and the birthday song. It stuck. To this day as a senior in high school, I still sing my multiplication tables in my head. That teacher made a difference in my life and that is the main reason I would like to become a teacher. I want to make a difference in a young childʼs life.

Taylor Dyches Thursday, May 2, 2013 8:45:00 AM ET 04:0c:ce:d7:7b:14

The other biggest reason is that during the summer I earned some extra money in my neighborhood by babysitting some of the younger children on my block. Their ages ranged from 1-7 years old. While babysitting, I also taught them a bit. Children are curious and ask lots of questions that they want answers to. I had fun answering these questions and helping those children to learn and grow.

For the research paper part of this project I will be focusing on the types of aptitudes needed to be a good teacher, the education and mentorships required to become certified, the daily life of a teacher, and the challenges that come with the career. I have already located many resources in the Mooresville High School Library as well as a few articles online. I also plan to interview my mentor, who is my old 3rd grade teacher Mrs. Jackson. My neighbor, although not my mentor and having nothing to do with my hours, has also offered to let me shadow her when she goes to work to get more research that way. Her school is in Statesville, so they are often in school on the days that we are not. This will also allow me to get more interviews with different teachers and learn their different teaching styles.

I have made plans with my mentor to do my hours at South Elementary School here in Mooresville. It will take a lot of visits but if I leave as soon as school lets out I can make it there by 2:25 and get almost an hour in with the

Taylor Dyches Thursday, May 2, 2013 8:45:00 AM ET 04:0c:ce:d7:7b:14

students. I will most likely have to do this everyday for a while in order to complete all of my hours. For my product, I plan to develop a lesson plan. I am not yet sure what subject that lesson plan will be in. I am trying to decide between a math lesson or an english lesson. The cost of my product should not be very much at all. Pencils, paper, sticky notes, pens, etc. Between my motherʼs home office and my being in school, I already have most of the things I will need to accomplish this.

I am well aware of the consequences I would face if I were to plagiarize any part of my senior project. I know that plagiarism means copying someone elseʼs work and passing it off as your own. This is something I would never do. I see the senior project as a challenge to prove to myself and to anyone else that I am ready for both college and the world of work. I would not be proving anything to anyone if I stole my entire project. I promise accurately cite and credit all of the sources I use in my paper and provide that information to anyone who requests to see it.

Sincerely,

Taylor M. Dyches

Taylor Dyches Thursday, May 2, 2013 8:45:00 AM ET 04:0c:ce:d7:7b:14