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After four years of working in fields outside of my college degree (English), I decided it was time to follow a dream and become a teacher.  I love kids and thought I could really make a difference.  So I quit my job with a major insurance company and moved to Houston to begin my life as a teacher.

Since I'd majored in English and not in Education, I was in a sore spot as far as earning my certification was concerned.  I certainly didn't want to go back to school for four years to earn another degree.  Then I discovered the wonderful world of Alternative Certification - the boot camp of teacher preparation programs.  With the help of my family and Prairie View A&M University, I got the classes and training I needed to begin teaching.

Of course, it wasn't as easy as it sounds, Alternative Certification is not for everyone.  You undergo one year of intensive training while you are teaching as an intern.  You work all day and go to classes at night.  You pay out money for classes, tests, and progam fees.  But if you have the drive and the determination, you walk away with a teaching certificate, a lot of friendships forged on the front lines, and the right to hold your head high when you say "I'm a teacher."

The area that really struck a spark with me as I learned to be a teacher was the use of technology in the classroom.  I don't have any formal training - outside of a word processing class my freshman year of college - and I knew that if I could do this, so could others.  So I dreamed up a place where teachers could go to find lots of help, ideas, inspiration, and perhaps a little of the excitement I feel about technology and it's role in our classrooms.

Please come in and browse through all I have to offer.  Take what you need and if possible, leave behind something that may help another teacher.   After all, what good is all this technology and this ability to communicate across vast distances if we don't use it?  What good is it to be a great teacher if you can't help others find that path as well?  Not only do I hope that each of you benefits from what you find here, but I hope you take it to your classrooms, so your students can benefit from it.

And please don't feel shy about offering constructive criticism and suggestions.  It is my goal to create the ultimate site for teachers, but I can't do that without input from teachers.  So, dive in and tell me what you think.  You can email me or sign my guestbooks.  I am always happy to hear from you and will try to return all mail in a timely fashion.

Thank you for visiting with me.

© 1999 Kim Estes. All information on this site is for classroom use only. Reproduction for commercial use or monetary profit is expressly forbidden.