Teach For America provides me an exciting opportunity to help bridge the inequality gap for kids in low-income communities, while helping me grow towards my career goals. This organization will allow me to strengthen the abilities I have learned as a tutor for children in my community and cultivate the skills necessary to be successful in the legal profession. Both my experience helping low-income kids and ambition to develop the attributes of a legal professor will support my mission to be an accomplished corps member.
My goal to be a Teach For America corps member was instigated by my family background and experiences in the Waco community as a volunteer tutor. My aunt, who taught high school English in a low-income community in Michigan for over 30 years, has inspired me to teach in order to fight against the inequalities facing low-income students. Her commitment to nurturing and developing students, regardless of the circumstances they were facing, led me to pursue service opportunities in Waco that would allow me to emulate her. Specifically, volunteering at an elementary school in the center of Waco gave me the chance to work and grow with the type of students that my aunt dedicated her life to. In continuing her efforts, I want to help counteract the education inequalities facing our nation.
…show more content…
As a pre-law student I have always aspired to go to law school and eventually work in legal academia. Working as a corps member will help me develop some of the skills that I will use the rest of my life as a law professor. Teach For America is the next step for me because it is an opportunity to for me to cultivate the skills necessary to be a successful teacher and be a part of an organization that is fighting against the inequalities in
Academic excellence is the primary desire of every parent and student. However, there are varying perceptions of the role of education in the life of and individual. According to the survey carried out on the perception of the role of education in the life of an individual, it was established that eight out of ten students were of the view that they pursued education for the purpose of economic gains. Additionally, six out of ten students viewed education as serving the purpose of broadening their view and perceptions in life. Accordingly, the widening of the will help them rethink their ideas and values. This essay will focus on the reasons why students attend college and barriers to education in light of the book Rereading America.
During Teach For America's first year of operation, the organization received applications from 2,500 candidates and chose 500 of them to become teachers for the program who began their two-year teaching commitment in low-income communities all across the cou...
At this time, I became a group leader in an after-school program for a 3rd-grade class. This was my first time working with children and as imagined, it was a tough transition. The students were Latino and African American, living in poverty stricken neighborhoods with a dysfunctional home life. The program focused on students who were at risk of retention. A large number of students were below average and had been recommended to receive extra academic support. As a result of my time spent working and learning with the students, I choose an educational path.
Growing up, I contemplated a future in the education field; I enjoyed my experiences volunteering with children and I have always been intrinsically motivated to learn. When I started college, I decided to delve into the social sciences, but I never forgot about my interest in education. The summer of my freshman year, I joined the education team through the University of Arkansas’ community development program in Belize. I worked with my co-teacher (a senior education major), and education and literature professors to create creative writing lesson plans and methods to improve literacy for underperforming children. In Belize, my co-teacher and I facilitated daily literacy skill small groups for 2nd and 3rd graders and taught creative writing lessons with 4th and 5th graders. This experience not only strengthened my desire to work in education, but also awakened my awareness of how different levels of educational privileges affect students. I recognized, however, that while I was energized by this experience, I still lacked the skills and training that would allow me to most efficiently help
However, in order to improve the current issue of poverty on diverse students the state of Louisiana should implement professional training for educators before entering the workplace. This will be an additional cost to the educator’s college tuition and all colleges and universities within the state with education curricula will have to guarantee that their programs are demanding, challenging, and practical; in order to make new educators that have the quality needed to assist all culturally diverse pupils. In addition, to training time and money, and training are also needed to generate an improved quality of education for diverse pupils in Louisiana. Schools in Louisiana that currently have staff whom are trained should also implement working with Save the Children on a monthly basis after faculty meetings on campus. This plan will help raise enrollment rates so that students of all cultural backgrounds within the state get back in school, obtain a quality education, and be successful. It will also show support for the Save the Children program and service getting the word out about the program for other states whom may not be aware of it. Louisiana schools will also work with their parent teacher associations and parent teacher organizations to help get the word about Save the Children out; gaining donations from the community for the
...g of the struggle of poverty and subsequent educational barriers. Though extremely grateful for all of the privilege in my life, it was difficult to realize my fortune until working with the teens at RYP who often do not have two parents, have limited adult influences, and live below the poverty line, making education an afterthought. From the perspective of a tutor and mentor, the educational support that the teens require is unquestionable, just like the injustices they face daily. Through service, not only does one gain perspective into the needs of the local community, but also insight into systemic issues of racism, poverty, crime, education and more. By participating in service and trying to counteract the sources of need for others, one will undoubtedly change their perspective of the framework question, knowing that the very least one should help others.
Teach for America is an important program for today's and future education because it establishes contemporary thoughts and teachings. Like Kuhn states, “society is changing so fast” (Kuhn). Due to this belief, education is transforming and it is the teacher's priority to keep up with this pace. Teachers from Teach for America, or even great teachers within current education, are constantly reinventing their teaching styles and les...
I have been always captivated in education. Education has always been most influential and important aspect of my life. My perspective of education has changed significantly, ever since I started my first internship during my senior year of high school. I was introduced to an organization called Teach for America, which I had no idea of what this particular organization does, what they visualize, I practically did not anything about the organization. Teach for America has successfully recognized children who are living in poverty are not receiving the quality education they deserve in comparison to high income area schools that are receiving a good education. This organization is frankly committed to making sure that every child has an
As children, we look to our parents to teach us skills that we need in everyday life, whether it be social skills or how to. Yet for a variety of reasons, some children do not have this personal role model for them to follow and learn from. For these children, their teachers may be the first adult to give them any sort of attention or care. As a result, a teacher can play a huge impact in a young child’s life. The Allentown School District’s high schools are both considered Title I schools, meaning that over 40% of the school’s students come from families that are legally considered low-income (www2.ed.gov). In the ASD, this number is nearly doubled at 88.7% (www.allentownsd.org). Most likely, these students come from homes in which the adults they live with are working most of the day and
The stories and resilience I’ve seen and heard remind of the importance of civic engagement and leadership. I recognize that without the support of mentors such as Mr. Bravo, I would not be writing these words today. At age 22, I have returned to the community that shaped the individual I am today. My way of giving back for the opportunities I have had in life is by serving as a resource, mentor, and tutor to the youth in my community. I work closely with 11 at risk eight grade students at Carver Middle School, a school in South Los Angeles. My purpose in serving in this community is because my students deserve a quality education that will allow them to develop the skills to be civically engaged citizens. Therefore, building brave spaces for my students is crucial to me; because, I am aware of the importance of social and emotional support of one’s personal and professional development. I want my students to know that they matter and that they are not
I plan to seize this immense educational opportunity with intellectual curiosity and maintain a high grade point average as I have done throughout the four years of my high school education of numerous honor courses in order to attain the knowledge to implement an organization to provide a positive learning environment for young children with special emotional, educational and financial needs. Using the knowledge I earn from a college degree, I plan to create a positive learning environment for underprivileged school children who would not normally receive a quality education and aspire to assist these children in creating lifelong educational, organizational, and social skills to overcome the boundaries of their economic situation and lifestyle.
...al initiatives and my goal is to establish an educational center that will focus on disadvantaged youth and their parents. I was the first in my family to attend college and I believe through helping others, they too can become “firsts.”
“Leadership for educational equity: About LEE.” Leadership for educational equity. Web. 19 Apr. 2014 http://educationalequity.org/about/
The relationship between teacher ideology and teaching is a salient one, where both must be intrinsic, to reduce the appearance of pseudo. The personal beliefs of a teacher can function as an asset or an impediment to many students, especially regarding classroom behaviors and student expectations. As Darder et al. (as cited in Bartolome´, 2004) explains,
My life experiences, my heart for social justice, community service and education will be utilized to serve as a teacher in Alaska that nurtures students academic success, commitment to community, care for others, and progressive self and community growth.