Hello, my name is Kennan Killeen and I am from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, so naturally attending graduate school in Cleveland was a tough choice! I begin my pre-student teaching adventure in the fall with Mrs. Spisak at Cleveland Heights High School. If given the choice, I would absolutely love to teach 11th grade English - my interests lie with American Literature (19th century) and I love the periods like the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil War because the literature is so vast and incredibly rich in culture. I attending Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, PA (about 45 minutes south of Pittsburgh) and earned my Bachelors Degree in English while playing 4 years of Division III collegiate basketball.
My "special" qualities and interests definitely lie with sports! I am the Graduate Assistant for the women's basketball team here at John Carroll and it's a great atmosphere to work in. I think that teaching is definitely taking over as my ideal job (rather than college coaching), however I would still like to remain involved in athletics, whether that be with my kids - coming far along down the road - or at the high school level where I am teaching. I love educating people and sharing knowledge. The biggest natural high I can get is with seeing the light bulb turn on with other people. The "aha" moment is something I strive to aid in creating. I also love reading great books and discussing key elements for hours with others. It's my passion and I'm excited to finally start my own teaching path using what I've learned from teachers from my own experience.
In terms of learning style, I have to be able to communicate comfortably with my peers and professor or teacher for me to learn as much as possible. I learn from mistakes and if I am afraid to make a mistake then I am not as willing to participate. I love to talk out my issues or confusion with assignments or readings, and I am a very interpersonal learner - if I can relate a reading to a personal experience or one of someone I am close to, I am able to interpret the material in my own unique way. I also have to be adequately prepared for class if I want to participate. If I have not read the material for class, I like to listen to others. Or, if I feel very confused about a reading, I like to listen first to help me interpret and understand it. As I've taken more education classes here at John Carroll, I have realized the type of learner I really am. And I always gravitate towards projects and mediums that are geared towards interpersonal learners and extroverts. It's all starting to make sense!
I have a brother with Asperger's and I've noticed that as I grew up I really liked taking care of him and helping him out with tasks - especially related to school. The experiences I share with him are what drive me to want to teach people and work to be the best and most effective teacher I can be.
As a high school student, my interest in becoming a teacher was sparked by two different experiences - one great and one terrible. My 11th grade English teacher was diagnosed with breast cancer during the summer before I entered 11th grade. She made class 4 days a week and we had a substitute (a very active and capable substitute, I may add) who helped to plug the class along when she had treatments or was too sick to come to school. Her perseverence and utter passion for teaching was honestly enough to make me cry. I'm not a very emotional person at all, but her drive was unbelievably inspiring. I wanted to make an effort to actively participate and make her job easier. I also helped her out after class and did menial tasks for her. She is healthy now and is close to retiring. I ended up, per her recommendation, following where her sons went to school (W&J) and pursuing a degree in English. My next year in high school, I tried AP English as Mrs. Booth recommended. My teacher was rude, cut throat, and very unwelcoming. It was a very rigid environment that was not at all what I envision an English classroom should be like. I was miserable. I dropped the class in three weeks and went on to take a Shakespeare class and a satire class. Although they were lower-level (not Honors or AP), I was much happier - even though I felt I was cheating myself out of a great college-level exploration of an English class. These two years combined made me love English and hate poor teachers. It drove me to educate myself to the fullest extent about new ways to teach and different mediums and ways to engage every type of learner.
That's about all I have! Any other questions, feel free to ask. I am a very outgoing individual :)
A soon-to-be-parting thought.
ReplyDeleteI love your name, Kennan!
From the heroic English teacher to the horrible English teacher, from experiences with your brother to experiences with your athletes and students, you already have riches to share. Your intelligence, your passion for English, sports, and people equips you to be a stunning future teacher and coach. I hope you land in an American Lit class in Pennsylvania! :-)