My name is Bre Bolerjack and I was born and raised in Bakersfield, Ca. I grew up playing a lot of sports, but my one true passion was soccer. I played soccer from 5 years old into my college years. I moved to Hayward after getting my AA at Bakersfield Junior College and then attended Cal State East Bay where I played soccer and attained my BA in Sociology. Shortly after graduating from East Bay I started working for a non-profit organization called Playworks. This is where I found my true passion and realized how much I love working with the youth and being a part of the school community. I worked at an elementary school in Hayward for two years and have been working at two elementary schools in Oakland, Ca for the past four years.
I currently wear many hats in my current position as I work with all 700 students doing PE, running the recess program, and developing the leadership program (Junior Coaches). This position has given me so many skills and tools and I am ready to transition these skills into the classroom.
While I have not had the opportunity of being an in classroom teacher yet, I would describe myself as being a patient, caring, determined, encouraging, and creative teacher. I understand that every student is different and has different learning styles and needs. As an educator it is our job to get to know each and everyone of our students and find methods to help them succeed. Some students learn better through visual aids while some need hands on activities, and others need auditory instruction. As a future teacher my goal is to incorporate all three methods into my lessons to give every student the same ability to be successful.
Ideally, I would like to teach 3rd-5th grade. I believe that my personality fits this age group the best. While I enjoy working with kindergartners for small allotted times, I am not cut out for a full school day with them. It takes a special person to teach in general, but I believe it takes a very specific personality to work with the little ones that I just do not have.
Having said all that, I am a very patient and welcoming person and have a great ability to build rapport with students. Children are so observant and I believe they can see this in me and in return they feel comfortable sharing with me and trying new things. My honest interest in my students and their lives will hopefully inspire them to learn and give them a sense of belonging that encourages them to ask questions and be themselves.
After taking a couple questionnaires that broke down my learning and teaching styles, I fall some where in the middle in most areas. I believe that because I do not highly favor one method this will help me in my abilities to teach everyone. I have the ability to learn visually, interactively, and through auditory instruction. While I slightly prefer to learn and work independently I do not have an issue working in groups. This will be beneficial as a teacher in that collaboration is important with both the staff on campus and my students. Two areas I did score as "high" was in personal model and facilitator. As a leader to our youth I strive to set an example of my expectations and hope they learn through seeing me model what I expect. As education has progressed and began to take a step away from using only teacher instruction, we have taken on the role of a facilitator of peer learning. Asking more open ended questions and allowing students to talk among each other and learn through peer discussions. Peer to peer learning can be a powerful tool in the classroom and I hope to be a successful facilitator of this.
I know this is all easier said than done, but I hope that when I have the opportunity to step into the classroom I will be successful in all these areas and can give my students the tools they need to succeed.
Thank you for reading!
Bre Bolerjack
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