On October 21, 2015 my cooperating teacher mocked me in front of my class. You see I was the student teacher in a second grade classroom at Charles Olbon Elementary School. After class I went home, locked myself in my bedroom and I started pondering my future and my career path. I thought I would not be a good teacher, why did I choose this career path? I choose this path because my friends and family saw me a teacher, but I guess they do not know the real me. In 2003 at the age of ten years old I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. My father saw me down at the kitchen table and strongly advised me to go into an “easy” profession. He instructed me to become a teacher, therefore I mindlessly agreed to his requests. Then when I entered college, I did not enjoy the teaching classes and I told my friends, family, and fellow teachers. However everyone told me the similar line: “you will make a great teacher, you’re just nervous cause you’re almost graduating, just stick it out and get your degree.” I listened to others while ignoring my inner voice and passion. Now fast forward to October 23-25th I ended up skipping student teaching to go into the city for Robert McKee’s Story and Storynomics seminar class. I consider myself a happy go lucky person who is a positive thinker and dreamer however on this particular day when my mom dropped me off at the bus station I was in a depressed state of mind. The night before I stayed in my bed didn’t eat dinner, and I just cried
I’ve always aspired to be a teacher. Growing up I wasn’t the smartest kid, and honestly my teachers weren’t very much help with that. Truly, as a struggling student I felt that when I had a bad teacher, there was no chance for me. So ever since I was young, I wanted to grow up to be that change, I didn’t want any struggling student to feel like I did.
“Why do you want to teach?” This infamous question is a pivotal one that I have been asked countless times during my collegiate years. Since youth, my parents’ way of life has inspired me to become a teacher. My father was never properly educated. Rather than going to school full-time, he decided to work to help my grandmother financially. Although he did attend school a few days a week, he never had the support of teachers or family to make education a priority. As a result, he grew up illiterate and lacking the essential skills of reading and writing. The fact that my father never received proper education and lacked a solid supportive learning environment has inspired me to pursue a career in education. I would like to help change the way students easily throw in the towel at school due to family burdens and social circumstances. My mom also inspired me to become a teacher because her career field exposed me to younger children and birthed a love for giving, helping, and motivating children to explore. My mother owned several preschools since I was seven years old. I grew up interacting with a variety of children that attended her
Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve known what I wanted to do. I am one of those people who was blessed enough to realize my passion at an early age. As far back as I can remember, I’ve wanted to become a teacher. I can remember as a child sitting in my room, surrounded by my stuffed animals (or students, as I saw them) and forcing my younger brother to sit still and quietly do the work I assigned him. I even had two baskets which I kept on my little wooden desk; one for my “students” to turn in work, and the other for more work which needed to be graded. I spent many afternoons
I interviewed a teacher from Seckman High School named Lori Bunting. I asked Lori several questions and she gave me more insight on the teaching career. Lori graduated from Southeast Missouri State in in 2000 with her Bachelors in Secondary Education and Mathematics. She then received her masters in classroom teaching in 2008 from Missouri Baptist University. With student teaching in my near future I thought asking her about her student teacher experience would give me some advice on what my next steps are. Lori student taught at two different schools and for eight weeks each. The first place she student taught was at Oak Ridge High School in Oak Ridge, Missouri. Lori stated that the school was very small and only had one math teacher. She said this gave her an insight of what it would feel like to teach in a small school. On the other hand, she also taught at Cape Central High School in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. She said she really enjoyed this experience because the school was much bigger and she felt more involved in the school. She said that unlike today, she had no choice of where she student taught but she was grateful for the experience she had at both Oak Ridge High School and Cape Central High School.
As I started my undergraduate journey, I never thought I would end up where I am now. When I entered college, I thought that my degree in chemistry would be a stepping-stone on the way to medical school. My one and only goal, at the start of college, was to work as hard as I could to ensure that I would one day become a doctor. However, along the way I figured out that medical school was not where my passions lie.
I always thought I would be a teacher and I would make differences in lives and it would be the greatest experience in the world for me, yet being a teacher wasn’t enough, I had a need to expand my education. I decided that perhaps I needed a new career, however, I felt certain education remained my passion. I began to explore new areas of education and I realized I still want to be a member of a classroom, a school and curriculum. I aspire to guide those leading our classrooms.
As a child, my parents had always pushed me to reach for my goals and go to school. My mom always made me promise to her, she didn’t care if I got married or had kids, but that I received a degree. And that’s exactly what I did. During my high school years, I dabbled with different subjects to figure out what I would enjoy doing the most as I got older. I believe happiness overcomes money. I would rather be happy than make a million dollars every year. So I sought to find a career that would make me happy. I landed on the medical field. Seeing people in misery shatters me, therefore I chose a career that would help me try and make a difference. I also chose this field to help my mother and provide her with the care she needs. My mom was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2008. After seeing this disease have negative tolls in her life, I promised myself I would always be there to help her in whatever way I can. My mother has always guided me and supported me through all my ups and downs in life, and without her I wouldn’t be up here right
My decision to be a teacher did not come easily to me. This choice was dependent on a reflection about what I was passionate about and how I could make a difference. I have chosen to become a teacher, as I believe teachers have the ability to provide future generations the stimulation for one of the most significant roles in life; to become a lifelong learner. Many teachers that I have had during my education have had a positive impact on my decision to grow and develop the skills that are fundamental to pursue a successful teaching career. My aim is to be a part of an honorable profession with the optimism that one day I will become an efficacious teacher who can provide future teachers with inspiration, as my teachers have provided for me. Through personal educational experiences and peer-reviewed academic literature, I am able to shape my approach to my pre-service teaching, as it will influence my future practice. As a teacher, there is not just one singular approach to educating students; there is a need for flexibility, diversity, adaptation and reflection.
When I was growing up I would play teacher with my cousins after school, I pretended I was the teacher, I had my own classroom. So from the beginning I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher, but I didn’t think I had the skill of being a great teacher. When I got to high school a friend suggested that I take an AP class. I asked my history teacher at the time if he thought I would be successful in that class and he explained to me if I worked hard and gave it everything I got I could do whatever I wanted including doing well in the class and passing the AP test. That day I decided to believe in myself and take a chance. After completing the course and passing the AP test I believed in myself again and realized what my teacher said was true. If I work hard the possibilities of what I could accomplish are endless. I became confident in my skills as a student
Ideally, when I graduate, I would like to enter the credential program at Cal Poly Pomona. As an English Education major, I feel like this is the next logical step for me as I seek to move forward on my path of becoming a teacher. The opportunities that await me in the credential program truly excite me because I have always found my studies of English Education to be very rewarding and purposeful. I have found this to be especially true now because I am currently in the process of conducting observation hours at local high schools in Pomona as part of my English Education curriculum. When I am in the classroom, I immediately feel a sense of joy, purpose, and productivity. Outside of the classroom, I do have experience teaching as a leader for a club on campus; I am a Woman’s Bible Study Leader for Cal Poly Cru and I have found this experience of teaching college students to be the most exciting, challenging, and rewarding experience I have ever had the pleasure of being a part of. It can become overwhelming as doubts and deadlines tend to sneak in on me from time to time, but I know that being a teacher is worth every ounce of pressure because of the positive impact that a teacher has the ability to make on a student. There is an incredible statistic that states that “On average a teacher affects 3,000 children over the course of their career” (Bickley). This opportunity stirs my heart like nothing else because when I was in high school, I had an incredible teacher named
I grew up on a small farm in a small town. My parents are both educators at the school I grew up in. To my surprise my parents were not thrilled when I told them I had a passion for education. Their first words to me were, “are you sure,” “don’t you think you are wasting your intelligence,” and “you’re not going to make very much money.” This was discouraging coming from the two people I thought I would look up to going into my future career. I was at a loss for some time, until I sat down with my grandfather one day after church. He asked me if I had decided what I wanted to do after college. To this I replied, I want to be a teacher. Expecting the same response as my
My motives for becoming a teacher, the roles/jobs of a teacher and students, My goals I want to achieve, The goals I want to achieve are making every student’s parent’s happy and giving the students the best education and I want them to want them to come to school and be engaged in the class.
Daniel Pink makes a solid, science built point regarding motivation 3.0 in his book “Drive”. For the 21st century we are in need of more people that allow themselves to have autonomy, purpose and mastery in their life to become successful and achieve happiness in their careers. Able to look at my future career as a specialist instructor/teacher in a different point of view. After reading every chapter I was able to see how I can apply some of these methods to achieve my goals and also be happy in my career. Most of us look at our future and think we need to pick a career that can offer us a 6 digit yearly income, without realizing if that career will bring us happiness. Drive was able to make me realize when looking at my future career I
Teaching is hell. The reasons I would not like to become a teacher are simply just obvious. More work than pay i.e. low net salary, stress, strict rules, you got to have a lot of patience with students especially noisy ones, and spend a lot of time preparing topics for the next day’s work.
Why am I a teacher? When I was a child I always had to pretend play school with my friends and I always had to be the teacher. My mom was a preschool teacher at the local day care center and I grew up seeing her cut bulletin boards and plan lessons. My best friend in middle school 's mom was also a teacher. I never wanted to be anything else and didn 't really have a back up plan if this teaching thing didn 't work out. In this paper I will take you on a journey through my educational years in elementary school and middle school, my time high school, delve into my time in college and then into my career as a teacher.