Making a Difference in My Students’ Lives

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Making a Difference in My Students’ Lives Do you remember the teacher that inspired you to do your best? Or maybe the teacher who believed in you when the rest of the world had turned against you? Teachers have a way of touching students’ lives, whether in a large or very minute way. I can think of numerous times that a teacher made a difference in my life. I am so appreciative of them, and I want to do for other students what many of my teachers have done for me. That is why, after I obtain, both, my Bachelor and Master degrees, I plan to enter the teaching profession. Jaime Escalante, a great educator, once said, “The teacher gives us the desire to learn, the desire to be Somebody.” As a teacher, my goal will be to show students that each of them can be whatever they want to be, and not only are they capable of being good at what they do, they can be the best. To reach this goal, I must be an effective teacher, which I believe can best be accomplished by teaching in a way that is comfortable for me. Therefore, I will not base my classroom around one single philosophy; I am going to seek comfort by utilizing certain aspects of different educational philosophies, namely essentialism, existentialism, progressivism, and social reconstructionism. First and foremost, I believe that the teacher should be in control of the classroom. Students are young, and they do not usually know what is best for them. Therefore, the teacher should be the one to choose the lessons and decide what is going to be taught each day. This traditional practice of orienting the class around the teacher is one of the main principles of the essentialist philosophy. To encourage this in my classes, I w... ... middle of paper ... ...rson faces problems and should know how to handle them. Therefore, through activities, such as word problems, I can help my students build problem solving skills. Through these four philosophies, I hope to inspire my students and show them that they can achieve anything. Hopefully, I can spark an interest or a desire that will help them find happiness and success. I cannot wait to see the twinkle in their eyes when they finally grasp a concept or the smiles on their faces when they make a good grade. These little events will keep me inspired from day to day. However, the greatest reward I could ever receive as a teacher would be for a student to come to me years after he or she was in my class and tell me that I made a difference in his or her life. Teaching is a career where you are able to change the world, and that is exactly what I plan to do.

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