Hannah Lasnick:

Interview statement
I have always known that I wanted to work with children. It wasn’t until 2015 that I
decided to go back to school to pursue education. In high school I debated going to college for
business and opening my own daycare. Going to school for criminal justice and working with
children in the foster system was also an option I debated. I love working with kids and
sometimes feel like I have an easier time building a connection with them than I do with adults.
The reason I decided to go back to school and to work towards a degree in education was
because of a little girl in my preschool class. I had always been told by my family that I should
go into teaching and that I would do well at it, but I felt like that was something I needed to
discover on my own. I wanted to find a passion for it and not just do it because I would do well
at it. I don’t have the best memory and I can’t remember the exact scenario, but there was a 2-
year-old girl in my daycare class who had struggled with speaking and gripping things due to
some physical abnormalities. There was a moment in class I remember where she understood
something. I will never forget the look on her face, the joy in her eyes. I felt so overwhelmed and
knew in that moment that I wanted to go to school and to work with kids so that I could
experience that in my daily career.
One thing I remember not learning in school was how to think critically, and to search for
answers on my own. So far in my classes at BSU I have learned how much that is being taught
now. I believe one of the biggest things to be accomplished with students is to teach them how to
think for themselves. Once a child is able to accomplish that, and as they are exposed to new
things, they will be more able to “think for themselves”, they will know how to grow their own
knowledge. Another goal for a good educator I believe is important is wanting to build
relationships with their students. In order to create in children a desire for learning, it is
important for them to understand that their teacher is genuine in their love for learning. Another
thing a good educator should attempt to accomplish with students is that it’s okay to not know
something. I remember having feelings in school of embarrassment for not knowing something.
With going into education, I have come to find that no matter how much I have learned,
there is always more to know; I consider that a strength. I look forward to working with students
of any age and when I think about spending my days with kids I get excited. I like being creative
and look forward to the chance of getting to incorporate that into my lessons. I have always
learned well with hands on and I feel because of that, I always try to visualize different lessons in
different ways and will allow students to also be more creative. When I first started this semester
I was more concerned with creating appropriate lesson plans and using the correct state
standards. I have two classes currently that are starting to ease that worry. I also believe that a
skill strength of mine is my ability to act professionally. When it comes to parent interactions I
know how to act professional. That however, also ties into some of my weaknesses that need
some work. When it comes to working with parents I get a little worried. I may be able to act
professionally with the parents, I always do better with appropriate preparation. One thing that I
need to work on is being more calm and having confidence in my ability to interact with parents
when they come to me upset or angry about something.
 I was always one of those students that didn’t do well with reading school books and
doing worksheets. I love that through research and many studies, districts are becoming more
aware and more interested in creative learning and using more hands-on techniques. It is our goal
as educators to work together and to collaborate with the common goal of helping students to
learn in a variety of ways. My goal is to get into a smaller community, or a small school, so that I
can build better relationships with my students and their families. I want to incorporate creative
hands-on lesson plans and share my passion for reading. I am unsure of the specific age that I
would like to work with. I love the younger ages and 3rd grade has been my goal the last few
years. However, since I have started taking more literacy classes I have become more aware of
just how passionate I am about reading and writing. I can now also see myself working with the
middle school ages and becoming and English teacher.