My name is Christy Wilson, and I am entering my last semester as a graduate student. I plan to graduate in August, 2011 with a M.Ed. concentrating on Curriculum and Instruction. Currently, I do not teach, but instead am the Director of College Transition at South Arkansas Community College in El Dorado. Under this position, I run the concurrent credit program for high school students and am responsible for articulation agreements and 2+2 documents with 4-year universities. In addition, I will soon be responsible for creating a University Center so that 4-year universities will have the option of offering bachelors' and masters' degrees in El Dorado.
I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in mathematics and also a Bachelor of Science in Education with English and math certifications from SAU in 1999. Since then, I have taught 6th and 7th grade math; Algebra I, II, and Integrated Algebra; English III and IV and AP English III; and coached 9th and JV cheer, all for the El Dorado School District. I miss working directly with students and plan to return to the classroom at some point in my career, whether through K12 or higher education.
My husband and I have been married for 17 years this coming June, and we have a beautiful 5-year-old daughter - complete with curly red hair. Everyone marvels at her hair and loves to touch it, but of course, all she wants is straight blond hair. She will be entering kindergarten this coming school year, so we will finally enter the public school system (and get a break from daycare costs!).
When speaking of me, most people would say that I am a Type-A personality, and even a few would say I am OCD. I don't know about this last quality, but I do try to complete tasks to the best of my ability. I don't mind if things are not perfect, as they never will be, as long as I have put effort into the work. People also say I am caring and considerate, though (I had to ask about these last comments).
I originally chose English and math as concentrated areas of study for my undergraduate degree because these were the two areas in which I excelled and enjoyed in high school. Since I earned a Bachelor of Science in Education and taught for seven years in the public school system, I also have a heart for children and learning as well. Spending the past five years in higher education has given me a range of subjects and lesson plans in which I have had to prepare; therefore, curriculum and instruction seemed the logical choice.
For my master's degree, I chose a reading emphasis, not realizing that this degree focused on elementary education; therefore, I am happy that I was advised to enter into the curriculum track instead. Under curriculum, I have had to focus on subject matter content and an emphasis on teaching materials. I have had to understand the reasoning behind curriculum choices, and I have had to understand more directly the impact of certain choices on the child's mind.
One day, I plan to reenter the classroom on either the K12 or the higher education side. Especially in higher education, I will have the freedom to choose what subject matter I teach as long as I cover the required objectives. Even in K12, though, I will have the choice of materials to cover in a literary analysis essay or the appropriate problems to employ in the teaching of the quadratic method. Either way, the process of curriculum and instruction choices within the framework of lesson plans is an extremely important content to master.