Building Our Future, One Student At a Time

Building Our Future, One Student At a Time

There have been many influences on my life. Some have been positive and some have been negative. But, the biggest influence on my life was luckily a very positive one in the form of numerous caring, motivated, intelligent people. You may ask who these people were. They were simply my teachers, and they are the main reason for my career decision.

I am in full agreement with Rousseau in his belief that we are all born innocent. That we are neither good nor evil, but rather the environment in which we are influences this. That is why being a good teacher is important. I really and truly feel that the greatest influences on a child, aside from their parents, are their teachers. These are the people that teach children the knowledge and skills that they will use most in life. For example, they teach students how to read, how to do mathematics, how to analyze information, and how to apply the things that they have learned to their everyday lives. Teachers are around the student, in some instances, more than the parents. Therefore, the teacher’s impact on the student is tremendously great.

Teachers have to be a number of things all rolled up into one neat package. First and foremost, teachers must be great role models for their students. The teachers have to be role models not just in their words, but also in their actions. If there is one thing I’ve learned from being in different school settings and around numerous children it is that children are very observant. They notice all the little things that you don’t even realize you are doing. So, if you are doing the things you are trying to instill into the children, you establish a trust with them and they see that these aren’t just words that you speak, but they are actually things that you know, believe in, and above all else practice in your own life. This constant role model status also helps you be a better person as you mold the lives of our future. Teachers also have to be disciplinarians. They have to set boundaries and rules for the students and enforce them without a drop of prejudice.