Why do I want to be a Teacher?

A question I have been asking myself lately.

My original reason was:
"I want to make a difference, I want to be around children, I want to have a challenge."
As I dissect my reasons I find I need to reevaluate why I want to be a teacher.

- I want to make a difference. -
Teaching is not the only place I can make a difference. However it is a good place to make a different. I just wrote a paper on George S. Counts who wanted to reform society and schools together to create a better society. He said “We are convinced that education is the one unfailing remedy for every ill to which man is subject.” And in some senses it is. Education is how we shape the future generation, and I want to be a part of it. I do what to help shape the children of the future and I want to be an active force for change in our world. Yes, I can do that in many places, however teaching is the place it speaks most to me.

- I want to be around children. -
Yeah, this reason could be tossed. There are so many other professions out there where I could work with children, and be significantly less stressed, and have significantly less work to do. However a teacher and her student have a unique bond, and that is something that I want to experience and cherish forever.

- I want to have a challenge. -
And this reason is the cake topper. "I want a challenge"? There are SO MANY other fields of work where I would be constantly challenged. If I chose a career in Mathematics, I would be challenged from the very start. If I chose to be an artist, I would be challenged to create different works of art on a regular basis. But teaching provides its own challenges, and those are the challenges I want. I want to puzzle over how to help a student and discover what is going to work for that child. I want to grow with the students as we learn together how to get along with one another. I do want the challenge of teaching, specifically.

On this blog I have been posting some lesson plans, and how I thought they went, which I think is a great way to evaluate myself. Also doing this post was helpful, reminding me why I am here in the first place. Since I have been in the Teacher Education program I have found several educational blogs that I love to look at. Some are more sophisticated than others, but all have great material.

Literacy Blog from Edutopia

Blog where Students can post their work

A blog to tell the hilarious things you hear in class!

Over the Next Few Days

Wow.I was told that I was a natural teacher, which is really what I needed to hear.

This and this are the lesson plans I have been using for the last few days. I was very impressed by how well my student did in both of these. She was able to understand the concept and she tried very hard, very quickly. Her mother says she is not motivated, however I don't see it. Perhaps it is because I put a good spin on the class that she sees it that way as well. One thing I do need to work on is giving her more independence. She depends on me for all of the answers. I need to make sure she knows it is okay and preferable for her to use her own mind to come up with solutions!

This is how we discussed what the root cycl could mean

This is the lesson I have been using for my other student. He loves playing with the tiles and creating words that he knows. He does have a hard time remembering the different sounds of certain letters. But this is something he picks up on very quickly. I am very impressed by his listening skills. I do need to find a way to mix it up, the tiles are going to be boring if I keep using them every day.

These last few days have been much better for me, as a teacher. I have been able to see my students succeed and struggle and have been able to enjoy teaching them.

Belly Flop

Here I am, in need of an outlet. A place to vent. A place to reflect. So here I am!

 This is a lesson plan I created/found yesterday.

I was really excited for it and I thought I had got everything ready. But when I taught it, everything went wrong. 

The lesson was too hard for my student, I had too many words on the board. I went to fast. I didn't explain it properly. I could feel half way through that this was going right over her head. 

I am very discouraged at how badly it went. 

I know I can learn from my mistakes, I know that I will do better next time. This is a learning experience. But every other lesson plan I have ever done in a classroom, has gone successfully. This is the first one that has belly flopped.

Now I am feeling all of my inadequacies as a teacher, how much I don't know. 

Which brings up another point. I need to spend more time on my studies so I can learn all of the things I need to know, but I don't seem to have time. I have so much to do. 

I am glad that I got to learn how failing miserably feels. It has humbled me quite a bit. Now I know, and now I can work back up to feeling comfortable.