School of Education Graduate Now Teaching for San Luis Coastal

 

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Choosing to be a teacher can lead to unexpected events, and Brianne Finn’s (Multiple Subject Credential, 2013) journey to her successful first year of teaching in San Luis Coastal Unified School District (SLCUSD) was no exception. As a candidate, Finn worked with two master teachers at C.L. Smith Elementary School: sixth grade teacher Danielle Falk (Multiple Subject Credential, 2009) and first and second grade teacher Lauren Villa (Multiple Subject Credential, 2008).

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During Finn’s first week as a teacher candidate she spent a week at a residential science camp and was offered a job by the camp directors. She chose to complete her candidacy instead.

 

Finn participated in multiple professional development opportunities with her master teachers in SLCUSD. Eric Prater, SLCUSD superintendent, attended a Common Core State Standard Mathematics in-service day and recognized Finn as a past student at Edna Hill Middle School where he had been the principal.

“Dr. Prater was a hands-on principal," Finn said. "He was in our classrooms everyday. I was not in student government or a star athlete, but he knew who I was nine years later, and he remembered my name.”

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After completing her student teaching, Finn interviewed with SLCUSD, a rare opportunity for a first-year teacher. Initially serving as a long-term substitute teacher in fourth grade, Finn was then offered a full-time tenure-track position in fifth grade. When she held back-to-school night, she again met Prater and his wife because their son was one of Finn's students.

 

Finn's current principal, Marylou Gooden (SOE graduate 1976; 1988; 1997), said, “Cal Poly prepared Brianne well to implement workshop models in reading, writing and math. She has created a positive classroom environment where students challenge themselves to achieve at high levels. Ms. Finn also understands the importance of working closely with the parent community.”

 

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Gooden also shared a comment from a parent of one of Finn's students, “From the first day Ms. Finn became part of the school community, she has demonstrated nothing but professionalism, maturity and a passion for teaching, and has showered her students with a consistently positive attitude and excellent communication skills. She is an incredibly hard working and devoted teacher.”

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Finn credits Cal Poly with preparing her to be successful in the classroom. “When students are stuck I reflect back to the strategies and experiences that Cal Poly taught me. Put the problem in the context of what is real for that student. As soon as you do, the confidence and appreciation is the priceless gift that warms my heart everyday. I am a teacher. I was meant to inspire students to reach their full potentialand feel the confidence in their own thinking.”

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School of Education
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
805.756.2126
soe@calpoly.edu