Carol Cusick Biography

Confucius once said “ I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand” Carol Cusick could not agree more. Carol Cusick has been a teacher for 14 years, not only has she taught, but she has gained knowledge from her pupils as well. She was born and raised in Sedalia, MO and never thought she would become a teacher as she had her own struggles as a student herself. In high school, both her parents, health deteriorated, She graduated high school, but didn’t have the proper tools on how to study or ask for help. She did not let her obstacles stop her, instead she attended State Fair Community College and then went on to gain her Bachelors in Art Education at Central Missouri State University now known as University of Central …show more content…
In 2015 she states “this year I have had the largest class ever, with a whopping 27 students, I enjoy having a dynamic of students, but the room feels smaller and smaller each day.” Due to budget cuts and fewer schools being built, teachers are being forced to deal with the increase by reducing their square footage of teaching space and adding more desks. When you are in a room trying to teach 27 children, with 27 desks, you can imagine how frustrating it can be to crawl out of the room. But not only is it affecting her room by losing square footage its also hard to keep up with 27 boys and girls, making sure each student is on track educationally, homework that needs grading, planning that has to be done and genuine desire to motivate each one. “My love for children is what made me want to become a teacher, but I am also here to mentor them and help them all succeed. With such a great class, I do not get to know each one as much as I would like.” Another thing that has changed through the years, Carol remarks are “The curriculum when I first started teaching, although the expectations were high there was a lot more flexibility on how you could individualize with instruction.”, now Common Core curriculum is being fully enforced throughout the state. The district has been more than supportive in sending us teachers to seminars, training workshops and conferences; but it takes some getting use to. Carol explains “at first I was surprised, but shortly thereafter in a lot of ways I am pleased even though a lot of parents don’t understand it, because I am learning that a lot of the expectations are attainable for the kids they are capable of a lot more than what we give them credit for. Over time I do miss that we don’t get to do more activities with the seasons and the holidays and stuff like that. But our culture has changed so much over the past 10 years that we can’t do