Nicole Auringer (Kiertzner) In a Nut Shell

Tell us who you are, your professional background and experience, and your interests.  I live in Seattle  I got married in 2012 to my wonderful husband in New Orleans, LA  I have a dog I adore  I am currently expecting my first child in August  Undergoing a major house renovation starting on Saturday  I like to cook, read, spend time with my family  I have worked with children for 12+ years (after school help, floater, nanny, lead teacher for toddlers and preschoolers)  Currently a program supervisor. I over see 6 classrooms and their curriculums.

Public School and one key experience that had a lasting impact on your life.  I grew up mostly in Iowa but moved around a lot, I went to school in Sioux city Iowa, Greeley Colorado, Mt. Vernon Iowa, Lake Oswego Oregon and Seattle Washington. My elementary experience was is Sioux City and Greeley.  I have never been good at math and I have had many teachers try to help. I have one good memory of learning extra math and one not so great experience. My first experience was in the 3 rd grade in Colorado when my teacher had a conference with my mom and suggested that I enroll in a weekend math program. One Saturday a month I went to another school and got to choose what games I wanted to play and was able to bounce from room to room playing various games. I didn’t realize it was helping with my math skills but I had a blast doing it and looked forward to it every month.  After 3 rd grade we moved back to Sioux City Iowa and my 4 th grade teacher Mr. Jager noticed that I was terrible with multiplication. He sat down with my mom and told her that I needed some extra tutoring in order to get my multiplication tables memorized. I had to stay after school every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with him and go over my multiplication table over and over and over. I hated it and was bored out of my mind… My mom finally decided to enroll me in other tutoring because she was tired of hearing me complain. To this day I am still not very good with my multiplication tables…  Moral of the story is… math isn’t fun unless its made to be fun. Teachers should take the time to show their students that learning is fun not about feeling punished to learn.

Describe the type of position you hope to have in the future.  I have so many ideas for what I want to do in the future… I do know that I don’t want to be a childcare director… I love the curriculum side of learning and I love figuring out how to make things developmentally appropriate.  I think consulting with people who build parks to make playgrounds more developmentally appropriate for all age groups would be fun  I also would love to work for a children's museum and help set up their exhibits or find traveling exhibits that will benefit kids of all ages. I get to upset when museums, zoos or aquariums charge a huge rate to get in and it only benefits older kids. I think if your going to charge and arm and a leg it better benefit all children that are going.

Discuss how you feel a master’s degree will help you in your future role(s)  Once I finish my masters I will be able to better teach others how to teach young children. I feel like I can connect with kids in order to be an effective teacher but I could benefit by better understand how to teach and instruct older children as well as adults.  It will also make me more competitive in the field I currently work in as well as allow me to remain competitive when it comes to finding a position that focuses more on interpreting curriculum for different age levels.

Quote that symbolizes my belief about education. "To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.“ ~Theodore Roosevelt This quote to me sums up the importance of early childhood education. Early childhood education is important not only to give kids an early stepping stone into elementary school by teaching them about colors, shapes, letter and number but to also teach them how to be positive members of society. It is important to teach young kids how to appropriately behave in society and teach them how to interact with not only their peers but also other members of society.