Fifth grade. Mrs. Purcell's class. I think that year was one of those life-defining years that helped shape who I am today. It was the year that I really solidified my love for reading and writing. I think that was about the time that Jenna and I finally realized that we were really going to be BFFs and that we needed to stop our childish fighting all the time. I had my first boyfriend, JD Healy. (Ha!) But most importantly it was when I first decided that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up.
I will admit there were a few years in there, like 8th-10th grade or so, where I changed my mind and thought I wanted to be a journalist, but it took a month in yearbook my junior year to know that was NOT what I wanted to do with my life, thank goodness. So when I got a note for the Careers in Education class around registration time for my senior year I remembered my old desire to be a teacher and decided to give the class a try to see if that was in fact still a possibility.
My senior year I spent an hour, four days a week in Mrs. Frega's third grade class...and I loved it. Working with those students for even such a short amount of time made me realize that was something that I could love doing. They were all so fun and adorable and it was so awesome helping them individually or in a small group with their reading or math. That was it. I headed off to college as a declared elementary education pre-major.
(Don't worry, we're almost done with the flashbacking.)
So I spent the first three semesters of college taking all my GEs and prerequisite el ed classes. I didn't ever hit anything that made me change my mind. In fact, I took classes like children's literature that made me super excited about being a teacher. (That's still my favorite class to date, by the way.) I applied to the program and was accepted and started the "arts semester" in Winter 2010.
That semester was rough and on the first day my fellow el ed roommates and I were seriously looking up how much money it would cost if we dropped out of college and went to hair school. I got some experience in the schools teaching a bit of PE and dance, but otherwise it was just sitting in the classroom learning how to incorporate the arts in our classrooms since most school districts are cutting the arts programs and the kids don't have art and music and dance classes. Over all it was a fun semester and I was still excited about being a teacher.
Then Fall semester rolled around and it was business. I was getting more into the pedagogical theory kind of stuff. One of my favorite classes was planning and management. Our teacher used to be an elementary school teacher and it's obvious she was phenomenal at what she did. She has an endless number of stories, good, bad, and funny. It was that single class that made me excited and--a new adjective--scared to be a teacher. Just the word management sent chills up my spine. How on earth am I, 5'2" reserved Stephanie, supposed to get a class of 30 children to listen to and respect me? In high school I was the babysitter that would let kids stay up way past their bedtime and watch tv, blatantly ignoring parent's instructions, merely because I didn't know how to put my foot down and tell the kids I was boss. So again...me and 30 kids. Not gonna lie, this thought absolutely terrified me, especially as we went into our month long practicum experience in the schools.
I will admit there were a few years in there, like 8th-10th grade or so, where I changed my mind and thought I wanted to be a journalist, but it took a month in yearbook my junior year to know that was NOT what I wanted to do with my life, thank goodness. So when I got a note for the Careers in Education class around registration time for my senior year I remembered my old desire to be a teacher and decided to give the class a try to see if that was in fact still a possibility.
My senior year I spent an hour, four days a week in Mrs. Frega's third grade class...and I loved it. Working with those students for even such a short amount of time made me realize that was something that I could love doing. They were all so fun and adorable and it was so awesome helping them individually or in a small group with their reading or math. That was it. I headed off to college as a declared elementary education pre-major.
(Don't worry, we're almost done with the flashbacking.)
So I spent the first three semesters of college taking all my GEs and prerequisite el ed classes. I didn't ever hit anything that made me change my mind. In fact, I took classes like children's literature that made me super excited about being a teacher. (That's still my favorite class to date, by the way.) I applied to the program and was accepted and started the "arts semester" in Winter 2010.
That semester was rough and on the first day my fellow el ed roommates and I were seriously looking up how much money it would cost if we dropped out of college and went to hair school. I got some experience in the schools teaching a bit of PE and dance, but otherwise it was just sitting in the classroom learning how to incorporate the arts in our classrooms since most school districts are cutting the arts programs and the kids don't have art and music and dance classes. Over all it was a fun semester and I was still excited about being a teacher.
Then Fall semester rolled around and it was business. I was getting more into the pedagogical theory kind of stuff. One of my favorite classes was planning and management. Our teacher used to be an elementary school teacher and it's obvious she was phenomenal at what she did. She has an endless number of stories, good, bad, and funny. It was that single class that made me excited and--a new adjective--scared to be a teacher. Just the word management sent chills up my spine. How on earth am I, 5'2" reserved Stephanie, supposed to get a class of 30 children to listen to and respect me? In high school I was the babysitter that would let kids stay up way past their bedtime and watch tv, blatantly ignoring parent's instructions, merely because I didn't know how to put my foot down and tell the kids I was boss. So again...me and 30 kids. Not gonna lie, this thought absolutely terrified me, especially as we went into our month long practicum experience in the schools.
(Ok, flashback is over.)
Today was my last day of the practicum. For the past month I spent 5-6 hours everyday in Mrs. Cummings' 2nd grade class at Shelley Elementary in American Fork. I had the time of my life.
On only the fourth day I came home, completely smitten with that class of 24 7- and 8-year-olds. I loved them like I've never loved anything or anyone before. Even though I had only known them for such a short time I felt like I was there to try and help make a difference in their lives. And you can only imagine how much that love grew over a month. I purposefully left today when the kids were out at recess because I knew I would bawl my eyes out if I had to say bye to them.
My fear of managing a class isn't quite as bad anymore after this, though I know it won't be easy. I was able to get those kids to be quiet and pay attention to Ms. Griffiths most of the time, but they were already trained by an awesome teacher who was a mother for years before she was a teacher, so she knew what she was doing. That's something that I'll just have to be prepared to deal with when I'm handed my own class next year.
Anyways...the biggest thing that I learned through this experience is that wanting to be a teacher is like wanting to be superwoman. There is so much that you have to do and so much more that you want to do, and a lot that is just impossible to do.
Here's an abbreviated list of some of the things teachers do: teach content that is dictated by state and district curricula; teach life lessons, such as manners, respect, responsibility, how to cooperate with others, how to behave in public, how to socialize properly, and more; grade assignments; plan and prepare all of their lessons; decorate and put together the entire classroom; meet with parents; give each student the individual attention that they need whenever they can spare time to do so; and so much more. Let me tell you, all of this cannot be done in 5 8-hour days a week. And teachers are one of the lowest paid professions. Go figure.
No matter about the money though. That's not why teachers do what they do. They do it because they want to make a difference in children's lives. That's what I want to do. I want to teach my students to love learning. I want them to learn how to express themselves through writing and that they can get lost in reading a good book. I want for my classroom to be a place they can come everyday and feel safe and loved, especially when that's not what it's like for them at home. I want for every single one of my students to come through my classroom and leave knowing they are loved and that being a life-long learner is what it's about. I want to help every single one of them and their own special, specific needs.
Yes, I know that's going to be nearly impossible. But Superwoman's job is nearly impossible, isn't it?
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