About Me

My name is Meredith Reed, and I have grown up in San Diego for the majority of my education. I was born in Denver, but only lived there for a short time. My education began when I lived in Seattle, Washington. I completed kindergarten, first and half of second grade. In the middle of second grade I moved to San Diego, and finished the rest of my education here. I went to Dingeman Elementary School, Thurgood Marshall Middle School and Scripps Ranch High School. For college I went to Westmont College in Santa Barbara. I graduated from Westmont College May of 2014 with a degree of Liberal Studies and a concentration in Physical Science. I have enjoyed school my entire life. School has always been a place where I have been excited to go. Even though I haven't always preferred certain subjects in school, I have always had a passion to learn. School was not the most challenging for me, but it was also not the easiest for me either. I did very well in school, but I had to put a lot of time and effort into my classes in order to do well.

I don't consider myself to be fluent in technology, however I do know a fair amount about technology to where I don't feel completely lost or scared when using it. I have used technology for the majority of my life. I would consider myself a technology native because I have grown up with it. This doesn't mean that I know everything there is to know about technology, but it just means that I am not scared to try something new. Sometimes technology can be overwhelming for me if it doesn't work or I can't navigate my way around. In High School I got the opportunity to use technology to research for reports and papers, to create power point presentations, and to write papers. I would say the majority of my technology use has been using basic tools on the computer. The only other experience I have using technology specifically for teaching is during a class I took at Westmont College. This class was called Computers For Classroom Teachers, and it focused mainly on how to incorporate technology into our classrooms. We learned different websites that can further our students' learning. We also learned to use basic tools such as how to make a podcast, how to make an Imovie, how to use and create a "Weebly", and how to create a "Prezi". I do not completely love the idea of the computer revolution because I fell that it is important for students to experience books, magazines, encyclopedias, and other paper products. There is something to be said of the importance of reading paper books and writing on paper as opposed to typing and reading online. I do like the computer revolution though because it embraces what students are experiencing all around them. It shows students that there is more to computers than just playing games. Students will be able to learn that computers can be very helpful in their education.

One part of the CSUSM mission statement that stands out to me is the "promote and foster social justice and educational equity." In my past four years of college I have developed a strong desire for social and educational equity. This passion was created during a lot of my classes at Westmont where I got the opportunity to work in classrooms where there were students from all different cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds. I want every student in my future classroom to have the same education opportunities as every body else in their classroom regardless of what background they come from.