“Why would you want to teach?” My whole life, I’ve had this question shoved into my face by those who feign interest in my life goals, typically accompanied by a tone that suggests that being an educator is somehow an inferior profession. This question has been the immediate follow-up to my statement of “I’m going to be a teacher;” this question has practically become the snarky period on a sentence that is said with great hope and determination. “But, Caitlin, you’re so smart; you could do so much more. Teachers hardly make any money,” they continue, implying that not only is it not a necessity to be intelligent as a teacher, but also that financial benefits are a human’s only source of fulfillment, even after I explain that I’ve never wanted to do anything except teach children.
I want to teach—I’m going to teach— because I have never wanted to do anything else as a career. Never once have I imagined myself working in any field besides the field of education. While most young children were daydreaming about lofty future professions, becoming an astronaut or a renowned magician, I pictured myself in front of a chalkboard explaining simple addition to a room full of eager students. I’ve changed my mind about many, many things in my life, but my choice of career? I’ve never questioned that.
Witnessing the moment that a kindergartener realizes that any number subtracted by itself equals zero, and knowing that I’m responsible for the sense of accomplishment that is shining through their face, is a feeling that I’ve been fortunate enough to experience working as a Voluntary Teaching Assistant at Gulf Elementary through Ida Baker’s Education Academy, and it’s a feeling that I am looking forward to experiencing over and over again thr...
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This brings me to the subject of parental involvement. I have noticed that there is a clear difference in the understanding of subject matter between students that have parents who frequently work with their children at home and students whose parents rarely work with them. This is why, when I have my own class, I will greatly stress the importance of parental involvement in a child’s schoolwork.
As my voyage to reaching my goal of becoming an educator nears its final stages, I am becoming even more eager to finally be able to do what I’ve been dreaming of doing for practically my entire life. I know that my immense patience for children will be beneficial to my future students. I know that I will make a difference in their lives. I know that I will be a valuable member of whatever school in Lee County that I teach at.
Teaching is one of the most well-known professions all around the world. However, it is also extremely underestimated, especially when it comes to teaching elementary school students. Jenny Peters, writer of the article Confessions of An Elementary School Teacher, observes that it is indeed a “challenging career” that in the end has “immeasurable rewards” (1). However, no matter what you have to do, it seems as though those rewards overrule anything and everything as long as your heart is in it, not only for the students, but for the drive to teach them and lead them to bigger and brighter futures.
Over this past summer I’ve worked at a recreational park mentoring young children. I was still determining what major I wanted study upon college move in day; I was clueless. A week before dispatch, a girl wrote me a letter. It read “Dear Mr. Christian, Thank you! You are making a great impact in our community. Sincerely, Madison” after reading the letter it inspired me; I realized teaching was my strong suit and the Education field was best for me. Teachers take on many roles in student development such as a family figure, mentor, role model, motivator, etc. The goal of a teacher should be to influence children, motivate them, and then watch them sprout into well-rounded individuals. Many people see teaching as an underpaying profession,
As children we have many goals and dreams. Eventually, the time comes when we have to make a career decision based on our interests and goals. The choices that we make now will have a lasting effect on our lives. Like most college students I have explored many career options, but I am always lead back to the education field. Teachers have a very difficult job because they have the power to shape and inspire our future nation. Although that can be an intimidating and often scary thought, it also gives me inspiration to move ahead in pursuing my goal of becoming a teacher. I have always had a passion for children. There is nothing like watching a child grow and watching their mind expand as they learn. Teachers play such an important role in a child’s life. They are often the only one who is there to encourage and support them. If I can make a difference in only one child’s life, then I will have fulfilled my purpose of becoming a teacher.
If someone had asked me 13 years ago, when I first started my career in Education, what my long-term plan was, I would have surely responded that I planned to retire as a classroom teacher. I returned to college to pursue teaching as an adult, and was sure, at the time, that I would always be satisfied in that role. The truth is I do love my job. I love seeing that light bulb go on! As many teachers do, I spend many evenings and weekends researching and planning and going way above and beyond my expected duties in an effort to make a difference for every child. But time passes, people grow, and experiences change people in ways they didn’t see coming.
When I was in the third grade I came home from school and told my mother I wanted to be a teacher. When she asked why, I replied, “because I want to be just like my teacher.” To this day I haven’t changed my mind. I was fortunate enough to have been blessed with wonderful teachers in my elementary school years. If it wasn’t for them I might not have the desire to become an educator. I want to have this kind of impact on my students. I want to the teacher who makes the difference.
When I was growing up I wanted to be everything I could think of from an astronaut to a doctor. You name it and I wanted to be it. I could not make up my mind and even as I started college no decision fro my major was made. I waited two years until coming to the realization that I would like to teach. A small girl in Wal-Mart helped me come to this realization. I did not even know who she was, but somehow she caught my attention. The first time I looked at her I saw nothing, just an ordinary girl, but something made me look again. When I did the girls’ face was glowing like she was an angel and then she just smiled. The smile filled my heart with such joy that from that moment on I realized that I wanted to see that smile everyday as an elementary school teacher. I wanted to become a part of a child’s learning experience and development. The following pages contain my philosophy on education and some goals that I will meet in my teaching experiences that are waiting for me.
The career that I have always dreamed of having is being an educator, specifically in the subject of history and social studies. I have always tried to imagine what it would be like to have my own classroom filled with students who are eager to learn. Throughout my academic career, I would put myself in my teacher’s shoes. I would picture myself in their position and it always intrigued me. I was intrigued by the notion that every teacher I have had is slightly different. This added to the passion I have for teaching simply because of the fact that there are countless ways to be an effective educator. It gives me great comfort to know that I can be just as effective of an educator as the person in the classroom next to me, or the professor
It’s funny how quickly time flies by it seems like just yesterday I was complaining about writing the first part of this assignment. Looking back at it now, the reasons why I want to become a teacher remain the same. I want to inspire, shape, encourage, and mentor my students. I want to make the kind of impact on each and every single one of them that they will carry on for the rest of their lives. Whether it be simply believing in them, and telling them that I know they are capable of accomplishing anything they want to, or helping them through a tough time. My desire to become a teacher has increased tremendously the past 16 weeks, and I am so eager and excited to finish my education to begin my teaching career.
Teaching is not only one of the most important professions, but it also can be the most rewarding. Success is not measured solely in test scores and academic growth. True success comes when a student gets excited about grasping a concept, when they demonstrate the values and life skills that you have modeled, and most importantly when the students show a desire to continue to learn independently. There is a lot of responsibility being one of the most influential figures in a child’s life, but there is no greater joy on Earth than being responsible for the growth within a
Twelve years ago, I was not interested in becoming a teacher. I was content with my life. Then, I had two wonderful children. As they became school age, my opinion of teachers was immensely altered. I have spent countless hours within my children’s school, became personally connected to the wonderful individuals who were their teachers, and developed a respect for these tireless workers. These individuals have created a desire within me to enhance children’s lives and improve society through education.
Now that I have told you what has led me to this decision I would like to tell you exactly why I have chosen to become a teacher. I want to become a teacher not because of the salary nor because I want weekends and holidays off; rather, I want to become a teacher because I truly have a passion for making a difference in others lives. I feel that teaching is perhaps one of the most fulfilling roles in life. Becoming a teacher to me means helping to shape another person by teaching and instructing them.
This study was done on a small group of pre-serviced teachers from preparation institute (math preparation? Or early childhood preparation?) and the results reflect how teachers feel about teaching math. As early childhood educator and a college student, I learned my teaching math strategies from my experienced coworkers, I did not learn it in college or in class. As future educators, our studies mainly focus on children’s development (many times few classes cover the same topic) and literacy development, but math is being limited to only one class. Am I surprised about the outcome of this study? No, if in general, early childhood programs push teaching mathematics to minimum (one class) then how the educators should feel confident, especially if for majority math is not a favored subject of all. It is obvious that early childhood program students fear going into a classroom to teach math if they only had mathematics for one semester. Is one semester of math going to create confident math teachers? In the reality, it is experience that will make them feel confident and gain teaching methods. I am not even sure if asking pre-service students if they have fears before going into a field is a very relevant question. I think that many educators have anxiety before they have to do something unfamiliar
The profession of teaching was not what I thought I would chose as a profession. I have an inquisitive mind and what I had in mind was to be a scientist. During my elementary school years, I was complimented by classmates on my ability to explain difficult phenomena to them in a language that they did understand; I had the same experience when I was in high school and in college. Funnily enough, my wife is one of my classmates that thinks that I will be a great teacher. Being told that I will be a great teacher irked me, and the reason for this was because my mother was a teacher, and teachers were not the least compensated in the part of the world that I grew up.
When I decided to go back to school my objective was not only to increase my knowledge and receive a degree, but I decided that the only profession for me to pursue would be to earn a degree in teaching. Not because a business or computer degree would be out of my grasp, I can learn anything necessary to do a job, but because by earning a degree in teaching I would be able to fulfill a dream of mine that I had held since my own days in school. I want to be able to help children reach for the dreams in their lives. That is the reason that I have begun this program of study, to fulfill my life ambitions of becoming a teacher so that I can help inspire children to reach for their dreams that they are holding. Even though I’m starting college with this plan of being a teacher later than my colleges, I will be able to help them and my future students by sharing my life experiences that have occurred so far.
To conclude, my research shows a clear link between parental involvement and children performing better in school. Children who's parents are involved in their education are showing better performance and are achieving higher grades. They also show better behaviour, more enthusiasm, ambition and higher levels of engagement. compared with children who's parent are not involved in their education. My research also shows that parental involvement has great benefits for both children and parents in many ways, so much so that the most effective schools are those who encouraged parents to be involved.