Hi everyone! My name is Lana Van. I was born in Thailand and came over to the United States when I was 4 years old. I have lived in San Diego for the majority of my life. I did however lived in Fresno for 1 year when I was in eighth grade. I went to so many different schools and most of them were in the San Diego School District. I went to Oak Park Elementary for K-4 and transferred to Carver Elementary School 5th grade. Then I went to Monroe Clark Middle School for 6th and 7th grade. During the beginning of 8th grade, my family moved to Fresno and so I went to Scandinavian Middle School. I started high school at McLane High School but then my family moved back down to San Diego. I then attended Crawford High School during 9th grade. I went to Kearny High School for 10th and 11th grade and then went back to Crawford H.S. for my senior year. It's kind of weird and coincidental that I always seem to change schools during the last year of the grade block. I graduated from Crawford High School. I then went to San Diego Mesa College for 2 and a half years and received my AA from there. From Mesa, I transferred to San Diego State University and attended for 2 years and just recently received my BA in Liberal Studies.
I am very familiar with technology. I wouldn't say that I am an expert but I know my way around a computer. I used to be a PC person but just this past summer, I purchased my first MacNotebook ever and I absolutely love it!!! I am totally a Mac person now. Not only are the computers cute, its just really user-friendly and there are so many built in software that you could just sit on your computer and play around with all the different software without and internet. Before I bought my MacNotebook, the only times I would use the computer was on school campuses to complete my homework. I rarely browsed around or did anything else. Now that I have my Mac, I use it everyday to do online banking, check my emails, do research, and so many others things that I did not use to do. I am currently using Microsoft 08. I really like this new version because it looks pretty and it's pretty easy to catch on to. I also really like how the toolbars are on the right of the document for the Microsoft version for Macs. I am definitely one of the people who depends on technology, ALOT! I have a cell phone that I use daily to contact people and I use my computer daily to check emails, research information and other random things. I think that technology is one of the best inventions ever!
The part of CSUSM/COE's mission statement that really stood out to me was when it speaks out a commitment to student-centered education and diversity. I think that it is really important to learn how to teach a diverse classroom because the United States is an extremely diverse country. Each culture brings in something unique and we as future teachers need to learn how to accomodate to each child's needs because of their background. Another part that really stood out to me was CSUSM's commitment to advancing professional practices. I took this as they are comitted to teaching their students the latest technology practices used in classrooms so that the future teachers and armed and ready to teach the younger generation.
