You are now in the final stages of your preparation to be an English teacher! As you plan this summer, I would like you to reflect on why you have chosen to pursue this profession and how do you feel at this point in the process? This will help us to understand each other better and to grow as a community of teachers, too!
I proudly graduated from Springhouse Middle School in 2005 (I think). Like every other normal person I absolutely hated middle school, with one exception.
ReplyDeleteThere was a program set up by the library called ARP. I don't remember what that stands for, but the premise of the program was that you would read a book from the library and then take a quiz on it. Each book was assigned a certain number of points, and as the school year progressed you would accumulate as many points as possible. At the end of the year, if you had 100 points or more, you could go to a silent auction and spend your points like dollars. I loved reading and therefore adored this program. At the end of the year when all my friends only had 70 points I would have between 500-600. The program transformed reading from a personal hobby to an obsession. This obsession eventually began to influence my interest in English classes and "classic" literature.
When I got to high school, like everyone else, I started to panic about what I wanted to do with my life, and the only think I could think of was reading. But, being a pessimist, I realized that making a profession out of reading most likely wouldn't put much food on the table. That was when I decided that I wanted to take my love of reading and share it with others. I wanted to take those kids who couldn't get into the silent auction and show them that reading is fun, and it isn't about the points, it's about the stories you collect as you read.
At this point in my studies, I'm really just ready to graduate and go out and do my job. That's why I'm excited for PDS. We have been given the opportunity to "start" doing out job while still finishing up our last few classes.
I feel. I chose to pursue teaching because frankly blood makes me feel uncomfortable. My chest scrunches in, my head begins to spin, and my hands begin to go numb. The Medical Field was out; I did not want to be a doctor. Sorry Dad.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up in a small town and perhaps (dare I say small-minded family) I was told that success in life is made through monetary gain. Intellect and innovation were the two key components; however, innovation actually meant “let’s work as hard as we can with new ideas to make it to the top spot of our career and then do as little as possible to stay under the radar.” This again made my stomach curdle.
I was told to become an engineer, a lawyer, a doctor, or a computer engineer. Happiness meant being able to make copious amounts of money, but despite the love I had for my family and the knowledge that they just wanted the best for me, I found I reached my niche in life through different means.
I chose to become a teacher, because it fit my definition of happiness and success that my gut feelings agreed with. I want to be a life-long learner in a work environment under constant construction. It does not mean we’re going to slow down or stop to be able to pass, it means we are going to adapt the roads for each student throughout the journey until he or she finds that education is worth pursuing together and even far beyond the classroom. For me, success in life is made through indescribable gains and that feeling that you are doing something right for the world.
So I’m here. With my bright orange vest and hard hat. Ready to build up, demolish, or simply take a turn onto another road with my team of students beside me. It just feels right.
This is seriously just great!
DeleteLooking back on my past three years, I never would have imagined that I would be in my final semesters at Millersville preparing to become an English teacher. My path towards teaching started during my sophomore year of college and my first year at Millersville. I had transferred here from Penn State, and I was not sure which direction my life would take. In fact, I was not even planning on staying at Millersville, thinking that I would take some credits before transferring to another school. My parents asked that I either get a part time job, or find another way to occupy my free time. Instead of getting a job, I decided to volunteer with Hempfield High School's basketball program. I graduated from Hempfield the previous year, and Coach Danny Walck gave me the opportunity to help coach the Junior Varsity team. I quickly took to coaching and realized that helping young people would be a satisfying career path to take. Millersville University seemed like an ideal place to pursue a degree in education, and I quickly changed my major to English Education.
ReplyDeleteThat decision has been a defining moment in my life over these past three years, and will continue to define my life in the years to come. I realized that I wanted to work in an education setting through my volunteer work with basketball, but my love of English and the language arts started much earlier. As a child, I always had a penchant for reading. By middle school, I was devouring books well beyond my recommended reading level. Books that contained taboo and the unfamiliar became especially enticing to me. Writers like Hunter S. Thompson and Jack Kerouac offered me glimpses into a literary world that seemed darker and more exciting than the literature I was presented in school. Pouring through those books gave me a love for the written word and the power it holds. As a high school student I tried to read voraciously because I felt like it gave me perspectives and world views I could not get from a classroom or my experiences in suburban Lancaster County.
Deeply exploring a variety of literature as an adolescent also provided me with an appreciation of literature as a substantial means of communicating truths across time and space. I still find it fascinating that stories written 2000 years ago still hold social significance to people today. As a teacher I want to let students explore the truths that writers have tried to leave with world while also allowing them to discover and convey their own views through writing.
Furthermore, I want to create a classroom environment that prepares students to enter into the real world. As of now, I am not sure what kind of teacher I will be and what kind of classroom I will keep only time and experience will reveal that. I hope to create a classroom environment that instills the values of hard work and insightful thinking. I hope to challenge students, and give them a chance to demonstrate what they have learned in thoughtful ways. In essence, I want my students to earn the grade they receive, and hopefully make the value of the grade represent the work they complete. I want to make an A grade an A effort, which is something that I think gets lost in society today.
I am not always entirely sure why I decided to pursue a career as an educator. Perhaps it is because I have always enjoyed learning, and therefore gravitated towards receiving and giving knowledge and understanding. To me, there is nothing quite like the feeling of excitement I get when I find myself connecting ideas and concepts that were previously unrelated in my mind. I love discovery of that nature, and I thoroughly enjoy imparting knowledge to other people. I get excited about sharing things I know, not because I want to show off, but because I love the essence of teaching or instruction that exists in those moments. I hope to harness some of this exuberance and joy to help teach young people the wonders of learning. I was blessed to have many good teachers during my primary schooling, but three teachers from high school made a large and memorable impression upon me. I don’t always remember why, exactly, I liked them so much, but I know that I learned the most in their classes and that they inspired me to also pursue a career as a teacher.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about the next two semesters, I get incredibly nervous and find it difficult to actually see myself as a teacher of any worth. Such wonderfully self-deprecating comments, I know. You see, I do not truly believe I will fail as a teacher. I just have to fight with my insecurities and fear of the unknown as I approach what I call “being a real person,” and not a professional student. But enough baring of my soul for now. I can say, verily, that I am excited to begin in earnest the process of learning how to teach and do so many other things in regards to the classroom. I am eager to learn how to teach, but ultimately I look forward to working with students, for I love teenagers and their proclivity to be squirrelly and ridiculous in a way that reminds me that while it will be my job to instruct them, I will more than likely learn just as much from them as I feel they will (hopefully) learn from me.
My goal as I finally become a teacher (as a professional occupation) is to remain just idealistic enough to maintain zeal and curiosity for my job and my students, and to likewise remember that I cannot change everyone or everything. I am sure this will be even more difficult than I can imagine, but I stubbornly insist on trying to do whatever I can to help shape informed and rational young people. I remain cautiously excited about this next year as a PDS student because of my fear of the unknown. What I do know is that it will be difficult, and I think I am ready for that, or at least silly enough to think I am completely ready. What I am most excited for are the things I do not expect or understand yet. My fear of the unknown goes only so far, for eventually I will experience and learn about what I do not yet know, and it will become exciting and wonderful. I anticipate the wealth of knowledge that I will gain in the near future. This is the same sense of joy in learning I hope to pass to my students, whether they are willing or not.
Yes! I agreed with so much of what you wrote, especially the parts about having a natural love of learning and the desire to "maintain zeal and curiosity" for teaching. I, too, hope that passion maintains precedence over frustration, exhaustion, lack of support, and any feelings of failure that we may experience.
DeleteFor a really long time, as it appears the same for everyone else, I had no idea what I wanted to do when I was in college and started to get really nervous. I ended up slapping "English Education" onto my college apps and see what would happen - it was something I was good at and seemed enjoyable, right?
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't really until my first year of college that I realized I had made a good decision here. In my freshman composition class, I was floored by the range of abilities in the students in the classroom. Some kids passed with flying colors while others didn't even know what a thesis statement was. This was really foreign to me, as my teachers always pounded those terms into my head growing up. But then I realized it wasn't that these kids were dumb, but that it probably was because the students never learned those terms thoroughly in the first place. They weren't even given the opportunity in the first place. That's what I decided I wanted to be a teacher - I wanted to be responsible for those foundations in my students' academic careers. I wanted to make sure they were well prepared for their college years. Specifically, for that reason, I want to teach middle school. Yes, I know, I'm crazy - I've heard it hundreds of times. But middle school is where students learn all those basic skills and foundations that eventually build to preparation for college English and writing. Without those foundations, the skills cannot properly build and develop.
Once I got into my sophomore/junior year, I did begin to second guess my major when I realized how much work and effort teaching is. Teaching is not a 9-5 job, you do not leave your job when you walk out of the school building. Teaching really becomes your life as it follows you around everywhere you go, whether you realize it or not. A few weeks ago though, when I stepped onto the middle school property of where I'll be student teaching next year, everything felt right. I can't quite explain it, but there was an overwhelming sense of assurance that I was following the path of where I'm meant to go. I'm sure I'll stumble quite a few times and doubt will find me more often than I desire, but right now, I am almost positive this is what I'm meant to do with my life.
I was one of those kids who always wanted to be a teacher, probably because I just love learning and I really was excited to go back to school at the end of each summer. It was during my high school years that I got excited about literature, even though I had been reading constantly since elementary school. I still remember the first lesson at the end of eighth grade where we discussed symbolism in poetry. I had no idea there was so much to be found in that little poem! To this day if I'm not reading at least three books at a time I feel like I'm being unproductive and missing out on the world.
ReplyDeleteAs for teaching itself, I knew I needed a job with a huge "human element" to it and one where I could watch people grow, because that is part of the pulse of my life. Words and language excite and fascinate me to no end, so I want to be able to share that with students through literature, writing, drama, and poetry (and French too, as that's my second major). I love the way that a piece of literature can hit you in different ways each time that you read it; it's true that literature is alive!
As I go into these final two semesters, I feel like I'm at the top of the water slide at the summer camp I work at, swaying back and forth before I slide down and take the plunge into the lake. It's scary and high from up here and I know the water is going to be cold, but I can hear all the cheers from down below and I also know that eventually I will come up and be able to breathe again. No, I will not always have "pretty" teaching. The worksheet that I spent three hours on isn't going to work just the way I thought it would. My cool vocab game might be a flop. That five page essay that seemed like such a good idea two weeks ago is now miles high on my desk with little breaks from grading in sight. Still, there is no other profession in which I'd rather be. So let's get to it!
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ReplyDeleteMy parents own 28 acres in the middle of nowhere in southwestern PA. When I was a teenager, I would help my father with the farm upkeep. We would mend fences, cut brush, and bale hay. It was hot, hard work, but it was also mindlessly meditative. A person could get in a rhythm and just sweat away an afternoon, surrounded by fresh air and birdsong. I had a lot of time to think, about anything that struck my imagination.
ReplyDeleteI read voraciously as a child. The bookshelf in my old bedroom is still double-stuffed with sci-fi and fantasy paperbacks. When I was doing chores, my mind went back to the stories I’d read and mined them for my own ‘what-if’s and ‘what-for’s. I developed my own story lines and plot twists and explored the connections between texts, and between the stories and the real world. My arms and legs would be working on one thing while my mind was working through another.
When I was in college, I paid for my groceries, my beer, and my books by cooking. I worked the night shift for a couple of years and was often the only man on the line. Even when I was busy, my mind would drift to stories I was creating. I would people-watch and guess at where they had come from and where they were going. I would ponder problems discussed in my classes and note the connections between them. I figured out little pieces of the world while flipping omelets and grilling cheese steaks.
To this day, I do my best problem-solving while occupied with other tasks – the result of years of habit. I need time to turn things over in my head, to explore something from as many angles as I can. The point is I have an active mind, an active imagination, which more often than not I put to practical use.
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ReplyDeleteI want to show kids that imagination is more than the monster under the bed or games of ‘let’s pretend’. I want them to use their imagination to look at the world around them and wonder how and why things work, how they might be changed. I want to teach students empathy. I believe imagination is essential for empathy; one must imagine how another person thinks or feels in order to understand their point of view. English class is a great place to teach this, because it affords so many opportunities to explore the world, and through so many perspectives. More importantly, it presents so many opportunities for us to explore our own perspectives and to develop an empathetic approach to the world around us.
I have been substitute-teaching for nearly a decade. Every now and then, maybe once or twice a year, if I’m lucky, I get to be there when a student GETS it. When suddenly, the light goes on, the gears mesh, the pieces fall into place, and I can see it on their face – “Ah-hah!” When something goes from frustrating or confusing or blurry to crystal-clear obvious and “knew it all along”. The mixture of excitement and relief they exude is palpable, contagious, and addictive. I want more.
One of the most satisfying things I have ever done was to dig a ditch. Even thirty years later, I don’t have to close my eyes to see the clear water running down the 300-foot length of the two-foot wide, one foot deep, square-sided trench I had cut out of the Western Pennsylvania clay with my back and legs and bull-headed determination. I’m leaning on a shovel, its handle worn smooth by my gloved hands, my lower back aches and I stink to high heaven from the sweat and the muck that is drying on my jeans and I’m looking at the straightest, most symmetrical, god-damn perfection of a ditch a man ever cut out of the ground and I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished. To be able to stand back at the end of the day and say “Look what I’ve done!” has to be one the best feelings I’ve ever had. It is one of the reasons I’m always working on projects around the house – I’m Jonesing for that self-respect.
Teaching may never provide me with one of those “Look what I’ve done!” moments, but it is probably the only endeavor (aside from parenthood) that a person can undertake that will afford them the opportunity to be present for innumerable “Ah-hah!” moments. Teaching isn’t about me. In the end, the high is more potent when it’s someone else’s achievement you’re celebrating. “Look what you’ve done!” is much more satisfying than “Look what I’ve done.”
The world needs ditch-diggers as much as doctors. Even ditch-diggers have dreams and imagination. I suppose I want to do my part to be sure everyone gets a chance to explore their dreams, even if they are digging ditches as they do it.
Or maybe I’m just a nasty old curmudgeon on a crusade to get everyone to use ‘then’ and ‘than’, ‘you’re’ and ‘your’, and ‘its’ and ‘it’s’ correctly.
DeleteUnlike many of my peers, I didn’t reply “teacher” when asked what I wanted to be when I grew until more recently. It wasn’t due to a Peter Pan-esque denial that I would grow up, nor was it a deep-seated hatred of school. In fact, it was opposite both these points. I couldn’t wait to grow up and do great things. I adored my classes for introducing me to the world, allowing me to learn how and why things work the way they do. I wanted to stretch my mind and discover new things instead of staying in the same classroom environment forever. I had a desperate desire to learn as much as I possibly could. As others have already stated, I was (and am) in love with discovery—that rush you get when something connects for the first time and the wonder that such connections happens continually. As you might guess, that has grown into a love of sharing knowledge. In high school I began to really enjoy my English courses beyond just the appreciation of a good book, greatly due to one of my teachers. I was always asking my friends if they needed someone to read over their projects or discuss ideas for a new paper. I was in my element. Nothing compares with that moment of realization on another’s face or the emerging smile as they apply a new concept. The same happens at my current job running the ropes course at a summer camp. Watching my campers try to puzzle out the answer and the joy they show when they finally accomplish the task is just what I hope to see in the classroom. I wanted to do great things in the world and keep learning, yes. Is there a more perfect job for that than teaching? It was also necessary for me to love what I do, so having a job where I get to discuss literature whilst working with people is practically a dream come true.
ReplyDeleteI recognize that there are many downfalls to teaching. To be honest, despite believing that teaching is what I want to do and that it is logical for me to enjoy it, I am rather terrified for my future. I know that I’m not the best writer. I’m not going to be able to come up with a classroom-shattering lesson plan every day. Heck, I’ll count myself lucky if I get them every now and then. I completely understand Jesse’s comment about insecurities and the fear of the unknown. I have a lot to learn about self-confidence as well as the expected classroom instruction. This step of the process is a tricky one. It’s a confusing amalgamation of overwhelming excitement to finally apply everything I’ve learned and work with students whom I know will constantly surprise me and a sickening fear that I won’t measure up and will let my students and my passion for literature down. I’m trying to learn to look for the smallest smiles and hold onto the tiniest of triumphs. Most of all I'm appreciative that we're all diving in together.
I am unable to pinpoint the exact moment or reason for the decision to label myself as a potential future teacher. I don't have an inspirational story about the moment I stood in front of a group of teenagers and my heart swelled with a desire for teaching when my eyes met their own, burning with a passion that begged me to teach them about my favorite authors. In fact, throughout most of high school I was convinced that I had a shot at becoming a photographer or a writer for a popular magazine (even though I hardly take pictures or read magazines). While trying to answer the irritating question of "so, what are you going to do after graduation?" asked by what felt like an infinite number of people, I began paying closer attention to my interests.
ReplyDeleteI was one of those people that actually enjoyed school. I still do. (If it's possible to be a permanent student and pay my bills, sign me up!) English was always my favorite subject and, like Julia, I always have at least one or two books on my 'currently reading' list. I could go on about how I was a bookworm growing up - accumulating my weight in free pizza from Pizza Hut's BOOK IT! program - and how I was always writing stories in my diary/journal/whatever, but we probably all share those stories and, for lack of space, they can be left out. There are two high school English teachers of mine that I credit for planting the teacher seed in my head, and numerous jobs with younger children and teenagers for planting the seed in my heart. I hope to never grow idle in my pursuit of education; one of the reasons books are so important to me is because I greedily grab at their contents for further knowledge (both for personal growth and to share with those around me).
I can sit here and talk about how important learning is and how I anticipate sharing my ideas and opinions with my students, however, that is neglecting the other list of reasons why I want to become a teacher. After being employed and volunteering with younger children and teenagers, I could not imagine working anywhere where those interactions and experiences cease to exist. While I am looking forward to sharing my love of literature and writing with my students, I am equally as excited to hear their ideas and opinions (even though I will be probably be met more groans and "do we have to?"s than I am ready for). There is something unique in having a job where one can interact with a group of individuals who are in the process of growing and understanding. I want to have a hand in that development and can only aspire to impact them the way I was inspired in school.
Shackled to my optimism is fear and uncertainty (and fear of uncertainty). Up to this point, I have only been able to imagine the kind of teacher I will be, or, at least, that I want to be. The dos and don'ts of being a teacher have been pounded into our heads, however, they are merely ideas. This upcoming year, we will (finally) be turning those ideas into practical concepts. Of course, this trial and error process will allow as much room for failure as it will success, and we will probably fail as much as we succeed. I am preparing myself to be ready for when my inadequacies are sweating bullets in the spotlight before me and my students so that I can use those inevitable moments as opportunities for maturation rather than believing they are signs that I chose the wrong major.
So, where am I at right now? I am ready to leave the stuffy Millersville classrooms and finally begin molding myself as a teacher (and happy to know that there will be levelheaded people around when we are all sleep-deprived and wanting to pull our hair out).
Nothing thrilling here, so I'll be brief (and late! Sorry...).
ReplyDeleteI was never great at math...or science...history thrilled me but was filled with too much trivia once I realized that the mythological narratives I was raised on didn't exactly hold the same "truthiness" that I had hoped. Music as an art was exciting, but I didn't get my foot in the door soon enough, and never truly grasped the theory behind it.
English, however, I was good at. I was in English honors all of high school, and have really thrived on story-telling. I still remember the intrigue in Sallinger's The Catcher in the Rye or the existential wonder (it felt funny, like holding a girl's hand for the first time) of Camus's The Stranger. If these things weren't enough, I got relatively good marks on my papers and good feedback on my creative writing. I was pretty good at these things.
I graduated with absolutely no idea what I wanted to do, and little desire to go to college. Despite this, I was informed that (at the time) it was cheaper to pay HACC tuition than to pay for health insurance, and my parents weren't about to have me living at home without going to school, so I did the clearly logical thing and registered.
I dreaded every class except my American Lit course, and in the upcoming semesters, filled my schedule with more lit courses, until eventually I had taken enough that, when I transferred to MU, there was no requirement for some of them to fulfill on my DARS...but no matter. I knew I needed to do something with literature, and lacking the confidence to a plain-Jane English major with all the challenges of finding work in writing or whatever else, I chose something that, at the time, seemed practical...teaching!
Yes, I started studying ENGL ED because I had no other idea what I wanted to do besides be stuffy and pretentious about books...
...wow, what a load that is to get off my shoulders.
The thing is, that's how it started. But when I sat in the classroom at Reynolds, I completely fell in love with the kids. Head over heels. They were all so different from me, but so much fun...and those moments when I had a sense that they got "it," wow. That was "it" for me, too.
I love what I've been learning--how I've been growing at Millersville. That said, I tire of my undergrad status, of sitting in classrooms and theorizing. I've told people that Millersville hasn't taught me so much how to teach, but how to think about teaching, and I'm excited to go out there and learn by doing. Every classroom--every student(!)--is different, with different needs, demands, strengths, skill sets, etc...so I value that MU has prepared my attitude, my emotions and my intellect to use MY judgement when the time comes. Now that the "time" is almost here, I'm excited to get started!
Yeah, I still feel like a novice--but how exciting! I know that I have what it takes, and I cannot wait to really grow through being challenged. It's going to be a blast.
It is really great that you are already being rewarded by connecting with students that you have gotten the privilege to help teach. After reading your post, I realized that I said similar things, particularly about how Millersville has prepared me to teach. I agree in that the instruction is based on how to think about teaching and prepare to think about what is needed to be done once we get in our own classrooms. This upcoming year is really for us to learn by doing - to explore and experiment, which is what teaching is all about.
DeleteEven though my parents claim I wanted to be a street cleaner at 4 years old, all I could remember is my desire to be a teacher. And there was a clear reason for it – my grandma. She was and still is my inspiration. I watched her teach repeatedly since I started kindergarten. Once my classes were over, I used to go to her classroom and sit there until the end of her day. It was amazing to see how much she cared for her students, and the respect they showed her in return. I've never heard her complain about her job, instead she was always sure about her vocation. While my parents came home frustrated complaining about their better paying positions, my grandma seemed satisfied and happy. And that’s exactly what I wanted-to be happy and to make a difference in someone’s life.
ReplyDeleteThe school years were passing by, but the dream of becoming a teacher remained. In middle school, I developed strong passion towards world literature and English language. Reading was always a part of my life, with hundreds of books to choose from my grandma’s home library. As to English, I fell in love with the language when I began to learn it in first grade. So I decided to combine the two and become an EFL teacher. But life made some corrections for me.
Growing up in Ukraine, never in a million years would have I imagined immigrating to the United States. A month after completing my Bachelor’s degree in English, I had to pack my whole life in two suitcases. Several months after settling in, I was filling out an application to Millersville University. Even though a lot of people tried to discourage me by doubting a non-native speaker could be an English teacher, I knew I had to pursue my education. I also knew I wouldn't let anything get in the way of my childhood dream.
I am very anxious about the upcoming year. I want to inspire students, I want them to be engaged and be eager to learn. I worry the things learned in college won’t turn out the same in actual classroom. At the same time, I am very excited about my placement, Hand Middle School. Despite of all the horror stories about the school, it has exactly what I am looking for: high number of ELL’s. Hopefully, PDS will help gain the confidence and experience I need to become a successful English/ESL teacher.
Kateryna, I will be right down the hall from you at Hand Middle, and I've heard absolutely NO horror stories. I spent the day there a couple of weeks before school ended and it was pretty typical -- nothing to be concerned about.
DeleteI've got your back.
My love of education was always in the back of my mind, but other influences seemed bigger growing up. Almost my entire family is involved in some type of law enforcement whether they are police officers, prison guards, auxiliary officers, or in the military. One thing remained constant in my life: I looked up to my dad and my brothers as my heroes. They instilled in me so many values that I hold that I owe entirely to their guidance. The biggest lesson I've learned from looking up to them is that helping people can be very taxing, but in the end is always rewarding because it is the right thing to do. If I have something to offer, it is my responsibility to share that with others.
ReplyDeleteSo naturally, I thought I wanted to be a cop. A probation officer. No - a juvenile probation officer. A detective... I was going to join the military. I couldn't make up my mind, and for those of you who know me and all of my crazy medical tales, I would never make it in the military. I was trying to follow them in the most literal sense, but didn't realize there was a whole world full of jobs that do good - many that were better suited for me.
After years of modeling, I recently became a modeling and acting instructor at my old agency. Although it is only two weekends a month, I have gained more experience from this job than any other. I have the opportunity to use a lot of alternative assessments and come up with many approaches to differentiated learning because my students come from all walks of life and range in age from 11 to 30+ years old. Now I know when I am in front of them, I am in my element and there is no question that I don't have time for. Teaching just feels right, but it didn't always.
I struggled with what I was going to do after graduation, like most people do, but I was almost set on being a teacher. Meeting my husband sort of pushed me into it. I apologize in advance because most of you have heard this story many times:
I knew when my husband and I started dating that he was dyslexic. He had moved all across Europe growing up because of his mother's job and had to struggle to learn in schools where he did not speak the language. Obviously, a developing learner with dyslexia who was not being exposed to his native language and could not understand the new languages was going to be left far behind when he finally moved back to the United States. In addition, if the teachers could not understand him in turn, they could not better understand his learning disability and how to help him cope with it.
ReplyDeleteDuring our senior year, Joshua was afraid he would start with the same low grades in English that he was getting in his earlier high school years. He felt defeated, constantly reminding me that he thought he was stupid because no one had ever told him differently. Being frustrated that he could not see what I saw in him, I took it upon myself to teach him some little writing, reading, and memory strategies that I used and knew would help him with the big picture. I often sacrificed my homework time for his as he struggled to grasp new concepts that no one had ever sat down with him to try. We outlined his papers together after I asked him verbally what he wanted to write about. Joshua is insanely creative with details to boot, but just had trouble getting it on paper.
As the year went on, time spent over homework lessened and we got to spend more time together instead of catching up on things like 1984 or the legends of King Arthur. As senior year came to a close, I was dumbfounded when Joshua told me about a phone call he'd gotten from his English teacher. She called to congratulate him because he'd finished the year with the highest grade in her classes. The excitement in his voice and the many times he thanked me made me realize at that moment that I needn't search my soul any further to know if teaching was for me. I didn't understand at the time why he was thanking me - I had only wanted him to see some value in his work and cut his homework time down, but apparently, that meant the world to him.
I want to be a teacher because I want wonderful people with incredible potential to understand that learning disabilities, disadvantages, and hard times are not road blocks or crutches; they are only temporary obstacles that act as lessons on a path that you cut out for yourself. Anyone can be a great learner and be good at something that they enjoy - It just takes someone with patience to believe in them.
ReplyDeleteAt this point in the process, I feel confident that I could stand up in front of most classrooms and teach something... how well? I am not sure. I am looking forward to learning more about differentiated instruction and alternative assessments that I can use to my advantage as a teacher. I feel that Millersville and all of its professors have prepared me well, but that most of the things I am about to learn this year, I will have to venture out and learn on my own. I am a do-er. What scares me is not the teaching and knowing what to say for the whole day, but rather, what content I am supposed to teach at any given time. It is not the lesson plans that scare me, but rather the unit plans. I know that I will be able to connect to individual students fairly well, and that I will be able to see my class as a whole, but can I see individual students in the whole class simultaneously? It will be interesting to be on the other side of the fence - I will be returning to my old high school to student teach. I never had the teacher who will be my co-op, but she was there when I was a student. I am excited to see all of the inner workings of the school and to get to know my students, what works, what doesn’t, and how my skills will grow as I continuously adapt and adjust.
It still seems like such a shock that I’m this close to seeing my dream become a reality. I come from a family filled with teachers and this profession always seemed to be so beneficial not just to those you teach, but to yourself as a person. To be a teacher means to be continually growing and expanding yourself out of your comfort zone so you’re able to reach the variety of students that will walk through the classroom door. Teaching to me seems both scary and thrilling. The fear of letting my students down because I’m ill-prepared or simply unable to form connections with them is what scares me, and the opportunity to see sparks of passion and unearthed potential within these students is what thrills me.
ReplyDeleteI chose this profession initially because I had such a passion for reading and writing. I wanted to share this love with students and help them see the beauty of language and how it offers such an incredible venue for self-expression. You can learn things you’ve never learned, experience things you’ll never experience, and be people you’ll never be through this avenue. So many of my peers hated English and I would hear stories about their teachers and the assignments and realize why. I don’t want to be just another teacher who assigns boring book reports on tired novels that nobody actually likes or connects with. I want to encourage engaged reading and show students the huge variety of literature that is out there for any interests.
At this point in the process I’m ready to just focus on my future profession and learn as much as I can in and out of the classroom. I’m scared that I won’t know how to take this knowledge that is in my head and apply it in an actual classroom. On a written test or project I would succeed, but taking this information into the real world is something I’m very scared of. I feel Millersville has prepared me for my next step in my journey and I’m so thankful for this opportunity to be involved in PDS. I can’t even begin to imagine what the next year holds.
Sometimes I'm not sure why or how I decided to be a English teacher. The word decide implies I had a choice, and I object to that because in becoming a teacher I feel as if it were the path designed for me long before I had any say in the matter.
ReplyDeleteI'm the girl who cries on the last day of school. Always, without fail. I think 11th grade I didn't, but that was such a stressful year with SATs and college apps that I think I was more happy to be done with it. Anyways, my point is that school has always been a second home to me. Yes, because I do see my friends there, but it's more than that. I've always loved to learn. I'm the type of person that has a strong drive to succeed and do well. I created relationships with my teachers, with my class schedules and the halls that I walked between classes. I counted down the days until I got to go back to school with a backpack full of fresh notebooks and Ticonderoga pencils. From a young age I wanted to be a teacher; I wanted to be on the other side of the school, to see what it was like.
Curiosity has driven me to do much in life. I started playing soccer after watching my brother play, simply because I wanted to know what it felt like to stand on the field wearing a uniform. I joined jazz band for a year in middle school because I wondered what it'd be like to play keyboard with a group of other instruments. I tried out for a musical because I'd seen other people standing on stage in costumes and I wondered how they memorized their lines, what it felt like to have the spotlight shining in their eyes. I joined cross country because I was curious what the runners thought about on those long runs, where they went, what they saw. Teaching was the ultimate mystery. How did teachers decide what we would do in class everyday? What did they think about their students? What did it feel like to stand in front of a class? To write on the chalkboard? I wanted to know the answers to these questions, to live it for myself.
Aside from my love of school, I've always been an incredibly creative person. Creating something out of nothing is like magic to me--the notion that an idea from someone's mind can act like a seed and grow into a work of art for others to appreciate. I was, and still am, an avid reader. In fact, two of my first words were "ga", which was my word for "book", and "more", which frequently followed "ga". When I was little I loved to draw and write stories. However, I soon realized that I was inept as an artist, and I had little patience to better my drawing skills. What I did have patience for was books, both reading and writing my own.
When I was in 7th grade I really started pursuing my love of creative writing by starting my own novel. I finished my first draft by the time I was in 10th grade and spent the next few years feverishly revising it, researching the book publishing industry, and querying literary agents. There was a time when I seriously considered going into publishing/journalism, but when I started visiting colleges and filling out applications, I knew I didn't want to spend my career sitting in a cubicle. I need life. I need energy. And I knew there really was nothing further to consider, there was no option. I would be a teacher. I would take my love of reading and writing and fulfill that curiosity, like I had so many others.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is, once I started at Millersville and fully started realizing the implications behind being a teacher, I realized that this really is the profession for me. I am no longer fulfilling a curiosity. I want to teach. I want to pass on my love of literature. I want to see the spark of recognition in a student's eyes, that feeling of accomplishment that I sought after when I was in high school. More than that, I do not want to settle as a teacher. I want to be a great teacher. I want to be like the teachers that I had (for the most part, anyways), the teachers that made me excited to come into school each day. And in a way, that is continuing to fulfill my curiosities. I want to know what they did to become such insightful, memorable teachers. I want to step in their shoes, expose myself to their inspirations even as they inspired me. I want to be someone else's inspiration, to show students that teachers really do care, that they are willing to go that extra step for them, and that maybe school is not such a horrible place to be after all.
At this point in the process, I want to take my "curiosities", so to speak, to the next level. I want to take my background, my education, my drive, and my experiences, and I want to find out what kind of teacher I will be. It's easy to be uncertain at times, but I know if I put my students first, put a fair amount of time and effort into PDS and the future, and have a genuine love for reading and writing to back it up, I can truly make a difference in my students' lives.
My 5th grade teacher made me want to write. Going into fifth grade, I was absolutely convinced that my life's calling was to become a Disney animator. I wanted to draw cartoons forever, until I wrote a short story in Mr. Bartels' class and he actually wrote on my paper, "You could be a writer, Miss Sweigert!" It changed my world. I wanted to do nothing but read and write, and later, as I grew older, I started to examine why that happened. What made Mr. Bartels my favorite teacher? How did he make me want to become a better student and person? Could I do that for kids, too?
ReplyDeleteInitially, I wanted to teach late elementary-middle school. That is, until I remembered that math and science were also a part of that bargain. Though I respect the field of mathematics and love human biology, I didn't want to TEACH either of those things, which lead me to high school English. Not only did I want to teach, I wanted to read and write. To be able to pass on a love for literature while passing on the same self discipline and self-value I learned from my fifth grade teacher is what keeps me in hot pursuit of my teaching degree. It has been a long road to this last year of college, and I know it will be far from easy. I also know that the field of education has its ups and downs, but I'm determined to make a difference in the life of at least one learner before I call it quits. Hopefully, it will be hundreds.