Abbey Miller

What do you love most about teaching?

The answer seems quite simple: the students! I love the opportunity to create a space that is a loving, accepting, caring, and safe for each of my students. I love to see my students become more of themselves throughout the year and grow into the amazing humans that they are meant to be. There are so many little moments during lessons or projects that they let themselves shine through, and those are the moments that I love most. Watching my students grow is the best part of my job, without a doubt!

How did Furman’s Education Department prepare you for the classroom?

There are so many things that I have learned from the Furman Education Department. The biggest thing that I walked away with was seeing professors and instructors model the type of teacher that I aspire to be. Whether that was professors taking time outside of class to meet with me, or showing their passion through their content, or upholding high expectations, or just offering support during a hard day, they modeled the teacher I push myself to be. Not only did they set the example, but the department helped me form my own thoughts as an educator. Through pushing me to think critically, be creative with unit projects, and have fun by doing all different types of science experiments. The Furman Education Department has helped form me as an individual and educator.

Any experiences from my undergraduate years you’d like to highlight?

The two big experiences that really have helped me since starting my career was traveling on a May-X to New Zealand with Dr. Hawthorne, Mrs. Virani and Dr. Lipscomb. On our May-X, I got to experience how other cultures celebrate diversity while also analyzing schooling in South Carolina. By going to see different schools, I learned what I was looking for as an educator while also learning more about the schools that the Education Department has such strong connections with. Another big experience that impacted me during my senior year was being able to travel and present at NCTE (the National Council of Teachers of English)  with Dr. Kelly, and a fellow Furman Education Department alumna, Ms. Kate Massey. At the conference, I got to see Dr. Kelly and Dr. Thomas give presentations on topics that were (and still are) important to them. I was able to make connections that are still strong to this day, and I could not be more grateful for having the opportunity to be surrounded by so many amazing literacy leaders!