Why I Am An Educator

craving of learning beyond what was within the curriculum attracted my attention. I still recall

another point of view vis-à-vis the painting I was staring at. Although I learned a lot from my art

The teacher is aware of the diversity of the student population and provides instruction that is appropriate for all students.

For students to learn what their teachers have to offer, they must feel fully appreciated as individuals within the context of their own distinctive ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds and with their own particular genders, sexual orientations, and sensory and physical abilities.

viewpoints. Over the course of the class I felt a change in myself in the sense

It began with an idea, a God-sown seed that germinated and took root in the minds of the staff at CSCL—allow our students in grades 6 – 12 to express themselves in a corporate setting on one massive blank canvas. As in any educational institution, we had an ultimate objective: to amalgamate each individual student’s current divine revelatory experience into a singular artistic expression.

My journey starts at a small Philadelphia public school, Greenberg Elementary School. At six years old, as most Kindergardeners are, I was a very curious learner; constantly asking the teacher questions about why birds flew and why dogs bark. I learned new games from my friends in the school yard and I learned how to add and subtract in the classroom. Learning wasn't just what I was taught in the classroom, it was also information that I picked up from people around me, such as my friends and family.

Reflecting over this semester I have come to the realization the more time I have had teaching has made me as an educator, more prepared for each and everyday. When I think back to last year and compare how prepared and confident I felt, there is no comparison where I stand today. Within this semester, I have grown immensely as an educator from taking on new roles from having a K-state education student observe with me for 40 hours, to presenting at the state KSDE conference, and to many more adventures in which I have yet to experience. Even though it has only been a semester, I feel this year is flying by and I am constantly reflecting on last year’s experiences and changing this years experience for the better.

In every elementary school classroom I found myself in, the room would be surrounded by quotes similar to the following: “‘Tis a lesson you should heed, try, try again. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.’ — William Edward Hickson”. Due to this, from a young age I was under the impression that you should always try your hardest and if you do, you’ll be successful at whatever you put your mind to. I later came to the conclusion that in order to do so you must push yourself as much as you can mentally and physically. However, I didn’t realize how naive this thought process was. Will you always succeed when you push yourself that hard? When I was ten, I learned for the first time that that’s not always the case.

It takes a truly unique, influential teacher to drive a student into a specific field, and in my case, those teachers were Ms. Kim and Mr. Salters. When I entered fifth grade, I thought math was fun and interesting, but then in Mr. George’s class, I was berated quite loudly in front of the entire class for being an idiot after misplacing a digit. I had loved science and math until that point. For many students, this would be the end of the road for loving math and science. Thankfully, later I was fortunate enough to move on to two inspirational teachers that solidified my love of education, math, and science. Both Ms. Kim and Mr. Salters were enthusiastic and supportive, and made thinking about science, technology, science, and math (STEM)

From the time I was a seven years old till the current day, as a Sophomore at Benedictine University, I have wanted to become a teacher. The four years of high school, Oswego High School, I truly become passionate to become a teacher. I took the necessary general education classes, and my elective classes learning about child development and early childhood education. Once I graduated high school, I felt confident to become a teacher, but I discovered that special education was what I truly wanted to do. From the first day or first grade up to now, I have become a success student, which I can’t wait to become teacher I want to be an aspirational teacher one day to my future students.

This is a personal research project that takes a look at where I have been and where I would like to go while developing statements regarding my cause, mission, and personal code of ethics. Also, I will indentify my 5 year and 10 year plans and my key values.

More than ten years ago, I began my career as an educator in Queen Anne’s County, Maryland; a suburban area of limited cultural or ethnical diversity. A few years later I, transitioned to Anne Arundel County, Maryland where I worked at a Title I school in Annapolis, this school was an urban suburban school with more cultural, ethnical, and social economical diversity. Currently, I work in Prince George’s County, Maryland, at an urban school located in Hyattsville, with a large amount of cultural and ethnical diversity. Each school was different in so many ways, I found it easy to adapt to the different population with a similar level of enthusiasm, never losing sight of my reason for being an educator, to educate young people to become productive, successful, contributing members of a global society.

I knew that when we were first presented with the project I wanted to do an art piece since in classes

Courses started to be very challenging and information was overloaded. While I was slowly revising my basic understandings, new information kept coming.