Practice Blog

>Who I am

>Why I want to be an Elementary Teacher

>What we should do as educators

>My passions


What I want my students to know

My name is Jerica (Baker) Smith. I have lived in Hurley, MS my entire life. This will be my first semester at South Alabama. I transferred from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MGCCC). I have changed my major twice while attending school there. My first major was Elementary Education; however I was indecisive and did not think it was the right major for me. I then transferred to the MGCCC campus in Perkinston, MS and was in the Funeral Directing/Embalming program. I was also a cheerleader at this time. Once again I was indecisive on my major although it was very fun and entertaining; it just wasn’t for me so I changed it back to Elementary Education.

I am recently married to my best friend, David Smith. My parents are Wayne and Jeri Baker, they have been married for twenty eight years. I have one brother Lemuel Baker. I am family oriented. I work at Planet Fitness in Mobile, AL. I love my job and my co-workers.

I have wanted to be an Elementary Teacher since I was a little girl. I loved to play teacher and teach school in my room. I would come home from school, do my homework and pretend I was teaching it to my class. I would also read different books to my "pretend" students. Another reason I want to be a teacher is because I use to be a nanny for this little girl named Honey, and she was handicapped, I would spend everyday with her doing art projects such as: painting, coloring, and drawing outside on concrete with chalk. I adored this girl and I enjoyed being with her everyday and watching her learn new things, it was a great experience.

I feel its an Educators job to provide stability for the students, due to the fact of many outside circumstances. Teachers should make learning fun for students with different activities, hands on activities are one way to keep the students focused on learning. I also feel that it is important for a teacher to get to know their students, it makes each student feel important and loved.

My passions include:

>My husband, David

>Working out

>Focusing on being a healthier me

I need to get better at time management. I am not very good at it and it plays an important role in being a teacher.

This is a picture of David and I at a Braves Game.

This is a picture of Honey and I.