Texas Tech University

Megan Fadal Alumni Profile

Texas Tech Alumni Megan Fadal Teaching Students to SuccessEarly Childhood Alumna and LISD Teacher of the Month Shares Unique Teaching Experience 

College of Human Sciences alumna Megan Fadal first heard about the Human Development and Family Sciences department through her friends who told her what an amazing Early Childhood (EC) degree it had to offer.

"What stood out to me most was the relationships with your peers, fellow future teachers, and with the professors," Megan said. "Many of the professors made an impact on my life and made me the teacher I am today."

In May of 2013, Megan graduated with a Bachelor's of Science in Early Childhood Education. During the 2013-2014 school year, Megan put her degree to work as an intern teacher at the International School of Brussels, Belgium. For the next year, Megan taught nineteen students from 17 different nationalities. Over 75% of those students were English Language Learners.

"I taught Pre–K, where children are learning social skills with play-based activities, which was very challenging with the variety of languages in our classroom," Megan said. "My experiences teaching abroad opened my eyes to a new perspective of teaching and life in general."

Megan never stopped teaching after her internship at the International School of Brussels. She was a Kindergarten teacher for two years in her hometown of Frisco, Texas, and a third grade teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Megan is now teaching second grade for the second year in a row at Velma Penny Elementary School.

"My current role as a second grade teacher includes teaching all of the core subjects to my twenty one second graders. I use engaging, exciting lessons and activities for my students to participate in."

Megan's whole group mini lessons allow students to interact with their peers, and her small group teacher table lessons are with hands-on manipulatives. In addition, Megan is certified to teach Gifted and Talented students, which makes up 25% of her class. This requires Megan to put in extra effort to design specific projects and field trips for these students throughout the year.

HDFS alumna Megan Fadal shares teaching experience with Texas Tech Megan said that the most enjoyable part of her job is getting to see how much her students want to learn. Her students are constantly asking questions and want to participate. Megan loves getting to use her own creative ideas to implement into her lessons and going to extra mile to spark her student's interests.

"For example, instead of writing an expository text on a piece of paper, we wrote them on bat-shaped fold-able papers. When my students went to lunch, I used the 30 minutes to decorate my classroom like a bat cave, so when my students got back, we could sit around the 'fire,' which was construction paper logs and flames with LED candles, and shared our interesting facts about bats! The projector was set up as a cave on the whiteboard, bats hanging upside down from the ceiling, and caution tape as they were entering our classroom!"

Megan says that her students' eagerness to learn and participate, makes her want to grow and learn as a teacher. Lindale I.S.D. awarded Megan Teacher of the Month in February 2018, and Megan wants to achieve Teacher of the Year next.

"In the future, I would like to take on more leadership roles in my elementary school. Additionally, I plan on getting my master's degree in administration, but right now, I'm thoroughly enjoying my time in the classroom."

Megan is thankful for the time she spent in Texas Tech's Early Childhood program.

"I am grateful for all of the opportunities that TTU has given me and provided me! I couldn't have picked a better university to truly start my future!"