about me...

Welcome to my blog!
My name is Greta Handel. I grew up in a town, Quakertown, which is about forty miles north of Philadelphia. No, I am not a Quaker, although I was asked that question quite a bit growing up. I attended Pfaff Elementary School, Milford Middle School, and Quakertown Community Senior High School. After graduating, I attended Kutztown University, earning a degree in elementary education (known as multiple subject in California). After graduating from KU, I moved around a bit.  First to Fort Lauderdale, Florida then to Annapolis, Maryland. After teaching in Annapolis for several years, I was ready to go back to school to attain my master’s degree. I was given an amazing opportunity at Lehigh University, located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I entered a two year program working at Centennial School of Lehigh University while obtaining my masters in special education. The Centennial School is a school designated for children in K-12 with emotional-behavioral disorders. Not only was the program outstanding, I learned more about myself in those two years. Centennial is a nationally recognized school because of the intense interventions and data collection. During all the moving around and hard work of attaining my masters degree, I decided that I wanted to move to San Diego. I made the trek cross county with two of my best friends, landed a job in Poway Unified, and started a new life for myself.

I am a rookie when it comes to technology. I feel I have been able teach myself all that I really ‘need’ to use on a regular basis but rarely go out of my 'norm' to learn new things.  Having a class that will broaden my technology skills is exciting.   Recently, our school has incorporated the use of ipads in the classroom. Although I attended training on how to use the ipads, I feel I am exploring on my own in order to really know how to use one! I do enjoy technology and feel parts of it are very interesting but also feel that technology contributes to the laziness of our society.

What I find most interesting about the mission statement is the use of such words as ‘diversity, educational equality, and social justice.’ During my brief time at CSUSM, it is apparent that professors go above and beyond to teach about diversity, equality, and social justice.