Why I Want To Become A High School Teacher

The career I chose is a secondary education teacher. More commonly referred to as a highschool teacher. A highschool teacher teaches grades 9th-12th and generally focuses in one subject area. High school teachers help prepare students for life after graduation. They teach academic lessons and various skills that students will need to attend college and to enter the job market (“U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics”). I chose this career because I want to be able to make a difference in young people’s lives and help shape them into good people. “I know that I have a huge impact on my students not just now, but for the rest of their lives,” says Linda Shelly, a high school math teacher in Glendale, arizona. “Seeing them rise to the challenge gives me great pride.” (“Teaching For a Living: Career Outlook”).

When asked why I want to be a graduate school teacher’s assistant (TA), my honest answer is the financial benefits. Being an out of state applicant, the financial responsibility is significantly higher. The University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee is my dream graduate school. The clinical opportunities, unique elective offerings, and welcoming staff are only a few reasons why I am so drawn to this program. Throughout my undergraduate career, I have worked tirelessly to get to where I am today with selecting a graduate school. After working so faithfully for the past 4 years, I do not want to let financial liability stand in my way of committing to my desired school. Being a TA will provide me with the financial backing needed to make my aspirations a reality.

I have known from a young age I wanted to become a teacher when I grew up. Throughout high school, the passion I have

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.

Becoming a high school teacher had always been the goal. As a young child and growing up with a multitude of siblings, children were my life. The aspiration stemmed from a desire to teach the next generation, to be a leader for the mind and guide them onto the next phase of their lives. I saw my favorite teachers do it with the kind of patience and discipline that only a teacher could have and after job shadowing Scott Hatfield, the social studies and current events teacher at Summit Academy North Muddle School, I realized that I am not fit for that lifestyle like I thought.

Each of the concepts in the article, “Books for Young Readers” addresses the goal of student interest and engagement in reading. The section, “Ways of Reading” talks about balancing the personal and pedagogical responses to reading, which is not easy to achieve. Laura Jimenez and Kristin Mcilhagga are refreshingly open and honest in discussing their lesson on children’s historical fiction where they used the graphic novel, Storm in the Barn, by Matt Phelan. The book served their pedagogical objectives, but neither Lisa nor Kristin liked the book themselves and their students noticed. When asked if they liked the book, they had to admit that they did not. Educators must put themselves in their students’ position when seeking interesting and

Throughout my years at Mount Olive High School, I have watched English teachers that are insanely devoted to the English Language and teaching their students, not be able to excite their classes about the writings of Shakespeare or how J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye, wasn’t able to catch any student’s attention in my junior year English course. I want to change that. See, I never was the best writer growing up, and am still not, however I love reading. One of my earliest memories about English of any sort is reading a Dick and Jane compilation book. This then sparked my eternal love for reading. I want to do that for the students of Mount Olive High School. I want others to be excited for reading and becoming so immersed within a story

Thirty years ago, only 8 percent of 13 year olds and 9 percent of 17 year olds said that they hardly ever read for pleasure. Today, that number is up to 22 and 27 percent (Bruni 2014). Teenagers don’t read as much as they used to unless it is an assignment for school. Many kids think reading is boring but there are other kids who would like to have time to read, but they don’t because of homework and extracurricular activities. School’s have the power to change these statistics if they try. Stamford High should approach the teaching of reading by allowing students to choose a book of their choice and giving them time during class to read. That way, students will start to read more and become smarter and more empathetic.

I’ll admit, English is not my favorite subject. I don’t have a problem with writing, and at times I write for pleasure, however reading seems to bore me. When I was younger, I liked reading, but over the years, it has become something that my teachers force me to do, and it lost my interest. Maybe it could’ve been from the required reading and writing logs, but now I read because I know I have to; not for my own amusement. Despite my animosity of reading, there were two books that stood out for me more than others in this past year. Both selections were assigned to read in our class "book groups". It's unusual that these are the stories that I’ve enjoyed most in the past year, because typically students dislike reading groups. They think they're

In the article entitled “Ten Ways to Cultivate a Love of Reading in Students”, Aguilar (2013) offers us ten tips as to how to make students love reading. According to Aguilar (2013) the first step is to encourage reading in parents. For example, if I read in front of my children, they will be encouraged to read. Moreover, she recommended that adults read more. The second suggestion was that we should share our reading experiences with others. Furthermore, the more people read and talk about it, the more others will read. The third suggestion is to have reading-centered socialization; things like; reading clubs, literature groups and the Oprah Reading Club. The

My point is very important if Freshmen want to do things in high school. They really need to pay attention to what they are doing and make sure that they do their homework and get good grades. Because even their grades from 8th grade can also influence if they can play a sport or not in high school. So they need to make sure that they pass those exams that their teacher may assign and do their homework. When I was in Junior High my teachers always told us that we needed to do our homework and study for our test. But I never knew the reason why until I came to High School, Even some of my teacher gave us Exam’s to take at the end of the school year so we knew how it felt to take exams. It was pretty hard but it got me ready to come here. So

I entered this class with a sort of defiance towards the casual reading of literature that was considered unnecessary outside of instructional textbooks of standard learning. In most cases, if there was a movie version of the stories text I would always choose the movie version over the text. However, because of the influence that this class has had on me, I have discovered that the text in most cases will take you deeper into the story that the movie version can. Through the aid of this class I learned about evaluating literature as well as how to interpret and analyze it. I particularly liked the statement made by author Sharon James McGee, who emphases that “literature is a way to experience a way of life, a time period, a culture, an emotion, a deed, an event that you are not otherwise able” (McGee, n.d., p. 2). I found this statement to be so very true and important because it fits so closely how I now feel about literature. In conclusion, it is this newly found love of literate that I will be able to take with me throughout my life and

English teachers don’t need to be told the enormous value and pleasure of reading whole texts as class readers. Little compares with that feeling when a class are truly engaged in the reading of a really good book. Those moments stay with you forever – indeed, they fuel the desire to find another such book to repeat the experience, again and again. Fortunately, contemporary writers of fiction for young adults continue to offer us fresh opportunities to enjoy literature with our students.

For my career, I chose to pursue becoming a high school teacher. Upon researching this occupation and finding a lot of helpful information, this was the best fit for my personal goals, interests, and overall career options that I chose to research. High school teaching involves a lot of interaction and helping other people, mainly young people. As I am a child at heart and admittedly immature, becoming a high school teacher was a perfect fit. My values as a person involve helping and teaching is the best help a person can give.

Literature and writing is one of my favorite subjects in school. I love the critical thinking that provokes persuasive discussions; the ability to understand and comprehend other point of views on a controversial topic allows me to broaden my outlook and opinion on world problems or situations. I’m an avid reader that can get enthralled into a good book that sparks my interest. Some books that I have read were, First they Killed My Father written by Luong Ung, Night written by Elie Wiesel, and The Joy Luck Club written by Amy Tan. I really enjoyed these books because they are novels that give strong narratives on real world situations that the characters experience. However, I was not always fond of reading when I was younger. Frankly, I despised it. It wasn’t until I met some very motivated teachers to help me understand the enjoyment of reading.