Teachers are one of the most undervalued professions in our society. People tend to give teachers a bad reputation based on the media and how teachers may be. I do believe that over time teachers can be burned out over time given the struggles that come with teaching. That may affect the negative view our society has on them. As a teacher you get paid which is nice to help build the life you would like. This doesn’t mean teachers make a boatload of money but most of them it’s enough to support yourself or support your family if that is what you choose to do. It’s not the only reason but part of the reason I would like to go into this vocation is that it will help support my family and I in the long run. Aside from the salary aspect of it, the wanting for myself to teach personally comes from my own schooling as a child. In elementary school I was in the special education program given that I worked at a slower pace compared to the rest of my peers. My special education teacher was Ms. Schlesser. I went to her everyday and she would guide me in learning more about the core subjects: reading, writing, and arithmetic. The thing that was so impactful about Ms. Schlesser was that she saw all of her students as equals and cared deeply about all of them. She was the teacher I had felt comfortable around because she accepted where I was in my learning and she encouraged progress. I had Ms. Schlesser all throughout elementary school from kindergarten to 5th grade. She never gave up on me, even when I may have been struggling she was there to always encourage me to keep going. That is what is so important about connecting with your students. Students want to know they are being supported and when you are open-minded and kind-hearted with your students it can impact their lives for the better. She taught me organizational skills and time management skills I am still using today and has helped to be the best student I can be. At the end of my elementary school years Ms. Schesser knitted me a scarf that I still have to this day. She made one for all her students in her classroom. This doesn’t mean that giving students things is the answer to connecting with them. But she already won all of her students over with the amount of enthusiasm and bonding she had provided in the classroom. I want to teach so I can make a positive impact on a child’s life. Not only was Ms. Schlessher was a positive influence. I’ve also had other positive teacher influences on my life. Another impactful teacher was my piano teacher throughout elementary and middle school. My piano teacher was Mr. Cappelli and he was my first and only piano teacher I’ve ever had. I have learned beneficial strategies from Mr. Cappelli, one of the things I was able to analyze about his teaching was the patience he had for me as a student. He took the time to go over sections of the piece we were working on and master one thing at a time before progressing more and more into the piece. When I was younger I was very shy and I was nervous in front of crowds. But every winter I recommended I play whatever piece I was working on for the winter concert. He would not only help me practice with the piece he also helped me with confidence and said that if I happen to mess up I should keep going because mistakes come and you have to keep moving forward. This mindset he provided for me was very encouraging because we are humans and we make mistakes and instead of letting those mistakes define us for who we are we. We can take those mistakes and use them to keep growing, making us resilient individuals. Doing the village project last year I got to work with some kids who were struggling in some areas and I learned how to be patient with students. What I have learned about my own philosophy of teaching so far is that every student is on their journey of learning and it is our job to encourage growth and have a positive attitude so our students can look at us as role models. I do need to grow in the confidence area. I need to work on that I am not in control of what students may say and need to remind myself that my purpose is to support my students. I tend to take things personally and if I take what all of my students day personally that would hold me back from helping and supporting them. We need our teaching to also be culturally relevant to our students. We need to be able to look at what is going on in the world and have students feel comfortable having a safe space to voice their opinions. We can do this by getting to know our students and making sure our curriculum is varied and relevant. Your students are your number one priority as a teacher so making sure to accept that everyone is different and come from different backgrounds we all can learn from each other to better ourselves.
