This first week of being in EDUC 250 has made me so excited to be a teacher one day! What I have always associated with teaching is someone going up in front of a group of students and just spitting out information so they can pass a test. I was so thankful that we learned right away this isn't what teaching is. Anyone can stand up and give out information. It takes someone truly caring and passionate about others to want to be an inspiration in their life. I don't want to be a teacher because I just absolutely love the subjects I will teach in the future. I love the children. I love being a big part of their lives. I want to teach my students life lessons. I want them to go out in the world knowing how to be a good person. I want to teach them how to be loving and accepting of others. But most of all I want to show them how loved they are. I want to be a rock in their lives they can always count on. I want to teach them how to wake up in the morning being excited for that day. I'm determined to have my students love life and love learning. I feel that school sometimes ruins our thirst for knowledge, but I will try with everything I have to show them why continuing to learn is beneficial.
I had never wanted to be a teacher. I swore to myself that the one thing I would never become was a teacher. The main reason? School drained me. I dreaded going to school. It was boring lecture after boring lecture and it was so hard to get excited over it. If I had to take a test over what I learned in my years at school I would probably fail. What I've learned is this is not what teaching is. Teaching is connecting with students on a personal level to help them not only better understand whatever it is they're learning, but to retain that knowledge. How I got into teaching was there was a class at my high school one of my friends was in. I decided I wanted to try out this class. I heard so many wonderful things about this class that I was determined to get in. I kept retaking my ACT over and over until I scored high enough (I'm not the best test-taker). Finally, I got it. The class was a teaching class. So three days a week I would work for a second grade class. I never knew true joy and happiness until I saw their faces light up when I walked into that classroom every day. I was so proud when I taught them something until they were almost experts on that material. My heart broke when they came to me with things that troubled them, but was restored again when I not only saw them grow academically but also them overcome personal struggles. I skipped my very last week of high school to stay at the elementary school to be with them as much as possible. I loved each and every one of them dearly. I loved being a steady influence in their lives. I am overly ready to become a teacher, the only thing that stands in my way is a degree, and I am so determined to get it.
For the NCTCS I have never thought of each standard specifically but it has been in the back of my mind at at least one time. I feel leadership is so important. To be a great leader one must also know how to be a great follower. Leaders need to understand what will be the most beneficial to a follower. No matter where we go in life there will always be someone above us. Whether it be a boss, a manager, the government, our parents, etc. each and every one of us should know how to respect our authority. Authority will always be there. But it's also so much more than that. When one is a leader, whether they realize it or not, we each need to know the impact our words have. Our actions define us, and there will always be someone looking to us to see what kind of person we are. A lot of these followers will follower your lead. It could even be something as simple as going to the grocery store and a child watching from the back of a car of you bringing all the shopping carts back into their place with a smile on your face. Every action you do impacts something in some way. Everything about this new world is about diversity, but it has been a known issue that some refuse to accept it. I will teach my students that we don't have to live the way others do, but they will know how to respect them. I will make sure they know how to converse with others with an open mind. I plan on learning how to do this here at college where there is so much diversity around me.
I know not everything I teach will be retained. If I could have my students remember everything I say it would be more than impressive. But that's not the way things work unfortunately. I plan to do everything in my power to have the content I teach be enjoyable enough for them to look back years later and remember doing a project because it was fun and/or enjoyable. Facilitating learning is something I'm very excited on learning how to do. By the end of the year in my classroom I want each of my students to know why they are learning and why school is important. They will know the importance of graduation. I will find little ways to put into my lessons the importance of getting a degree. I will also help my students to reflect on how their actions affect their lives. I will not only help my students become good in their schoolwork, but also how to become good people.
I have a deep love and caring for those around me. I'm overly ecstatic for my future as a leader in the lives of each and every one of those who will be around me.
