In believe in not leaving the kids out of the conversation, they deserve to be able to express themselves and feel comfortable being themselves in the classroom. I think being able to get along with kids out side of a school environment will help me be open to new ideas and be able to be a little crazy in the classroom.

 This is my brother who has always loved basketball. We support him in his passion and get excited for him when he gets to play in his high school games. One thing that is so important as a teacher is helping kids realize that there are so many ways to learn and one great way to learn how to cooperate with others and be part of a team is on a sports team.

 This is my brother who doesn't like sports. He's a talkative, lively 11 year old but he doesn't want to play anything with a ball. He's a lot like me in that respect. He's genuinely interested in things like animals and new fun games and making up outdoor explorations. He learns by talking and doing. I know it will be easy to relate to these kids who genuinely want to learn.

 Another huge part of my family culture is finding new ways of working out. I had never done any weight lifting until I came to BYU and when I came it was difficult to learn how to lift weights. Teachers need to be healthy and establishing a pattern of working out now will help me stay physically and mentally healthy in the future.

 This is my little brother receiving his Arrow of Light at a Boy Scouts awards ceremony. A big part of my family culture has to do with working on our moral character and constantly finding ways to serve our community. I want to promote extracurricular activities at the school I work at.

 This picture was taken at a fair where we unexpectedly came across the opportunity to ride an elephant. Kids will have so many great opportunities that they will have to choose to take or not. I want to teach my kids that they should take opportunities that come their way. In terms of school this may mean being in a club or on the student council.

 This is a picture of my first time on a go kart. There was major risk involved in driving this with very little training and no one to be with me as I was driving. I want to help my students realize that soemtimes we need to take chances and we are capable of doing things on our own. I think one of the hardest kids to teach are those who have given up, they have never been given the reigns or the steering wheel of their own lives and they need so desperately for a friend to take a chance and let them express themselves.

Holidays are so important. As a teacher we have to realize that we need times to rest. I want to stress the importance of enjoying life in my classroom, bringing holidays into the classroom will be one of my  biggest challenges. Children come from so many different backgrounds that I know I will have to be careful about not celebrating any holiday but I can celebrate holidays. Being happy is a part of our culture in a very big way. Until reading the articles, I did not realize that smiling was not a social norm in other countries.