I want to teach because I want to make a difference. Through learning and experience, I believe I have what it takes to create a great learning environment for students. Students need a good environment and a good teacher to be successful in their work. I want to help students succeed. Most teachers have very distinctive qualities. Some of the qualities I wish to attain are to be structured, firm, informative, and energetic. Being energetic is not a problem for me, nor is being informative. But I know right off the bat I must work on being structured and firm. When I say firm, I men sticking to plan and trying not to digress. In addition, if penalties are given to an individual because of lack of homework, rowdiness etc., I’ll have to learn to stick to that as well. I hate to describe myself as a softy, but I am. I hate to be the bad guy, but in a reading I’ve already read this semester, once you show signs of weakness, the year is kaput. Rules for the classroom are to remain a structured part of my curriculum.
All teachers I have come in contact with have all told me the same thing regarding teaching: If you don't like children, teaching isn't for you. I think we've all had the one teacher we felt didn't like us. But do you think thats exactly true? The work they went through in college, masters programs, student teachings, all of that but still hated children? Completely false! I have, however, met people who've studied years and years of accounting, and switched jobs later in life. I feel like most teachers have wanted to teach all of their lives. For me, it wasn't until recently that I realized my love for teaching.
An article I read in this week's module that really touched me was the story about The Green Monongehla. In short, it was a story about a man who became a substitute teacher and altered the life of a young student who loved reading. He was able to have her tested into the advanced reading class. In the end, he tell's us that she won New York Cities Teacher of the Year award. For a story that took 20 minutes to read, it touched me in a way I didn't think possible. I immediately began to think "Hey, I want to make a difference too!"
Another part of this week's module I wrapped my mind around was teaching in different settings. In an article by Herbert Kohl, he explains that different places look for teachers, not just public schools. I illustrated this thought by comparing to airlines. Everybody knows Air France. Want to go to Paris? Fly Air France! But have you ever heard of Openskies? It is also an airline that goes nonstop from the U.S. To Paris. So just because its not popular, it doesn't get the job done? Of course not! Both do the same job, just different names. Same goes for teaching. You don't have to just teach in a school, it can be in a hospital, social agency, or a business.
A peer of mine in EDU100 Kimberly posted a picture of two divers diving into a body of water. She described this has diving head first into the many options out there that is teaching. Absolutely loved the picture and like I said to her, I always love her blogs!
Speaking of all the options that is teaching, take your pick! As Kimberly would say, dive in!
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