My name is Laura Mills,
but you can call me Lexi, and I hope to become a teacher someday. To understand
who I am as a teacher, I feel it is important to first describe how I got to
this point in my career. My journey begins very early on in my life, and this
is how it goes:
When
I was a young girl, I knew I wanted to be something great when I grew up. My
imagination offered me careers such as astronaut, marine biologist, and famous
pop star. It wasn't until high school, however, that I realized the
"something great" was going to mean being an educator. English
was a subject I had always thrived in and so it seemed natural and comforting
to choose this discipline as my “forever home.” Reading and writing is what I
loved doing in my spare time. Even as a child, when I wasn't digging for bugs
or catching butterflies, I was in the house reading one of the many books we
had on our shelves. Grammar and spelling came easy to me because of how often I
exposed myself to that culture through books.
Home-schooled
until fifth grade, it shocked me when I got to public school and heard my peers
complaining about reading, writing something for class, or books in general.
During my entire middle and high school career I listened to everyone around me
talk about how much they hated reading and class, despite having many of the
teachers that I admired and believed to be good role models. I am not sure why
so many people rather “wait for the movie” or take a 0 instead of doing a short
writing assignment on Shakespeare’s Othello.
And I will never understand how so many people’s imaginations could have let
them all down in the same way. Books are a journey if you let them lead you.
This
past summer I completed an internship with the Shippensburg Public Library by
helping out with the Youth Program. It was my job to read to children twice a
week and help operate the “Teen Scene” every Friday afternoon. The hope of the
Youth Program Director was that by showing how fun reading can be, the youths
are more likely to grow up reading more and using their now strengthened imaginations
to help shape the world for the better.
And
so, this takes me to who I want to be as a teacher. I want to be many things
but by far the most important part of being a teacher is being inspirational.
This could mean any number of ideas: a listening ear for a teenager who
believes nobody can hear them, a firm “no” that stops a bully from hurting
someone, a kind word that ends a bad day, or the person that helps a young mind
decide what they want to be after finishing their own education, a teacher.
As
an English lover, it would be my hope that each of my future students would
also love the language as much as me; knowing this is impossible, however, I
want to teach them hard work will be rewarded in life. To inspire them to keep
focused and on task would not only benefit me and them in my class, but in “real
life” too. Doing the homework that I assigned regardless of how much they loathe reading will give them good
grades, which may contribute to them getting in a good college or work force of
their own choosing, so that they may enjoy their lives. Having the skills to
follow orders is important to have in the world that we live in today.
One
more trait I hope to bequeath to my students is the ability to THINK. Yes, it
is important to know when and how to take orders, but nothing new will ever
come from future generations if they are unable to use their imaginations and
brain power to think beyond anywhere that mankind has gone before. The concept
of going to the moon was unheard of until an intellectual put his mind to it.
Through trial and error, humans were able to travel somewhere no creature had
ever been before. These are the kinds of ideas I hope to inspire in my
classroom from open discussions and a safe, judgement-free environment. I want
to be the map that guides children to their places in the world.
It
is obvious that many people believe that teaching would not be a difficult job,
and some believe that it is not very important to keep us around, especially
the liberal arts teachers. But to some precious few individuals, we are
acknowledged for our significance and appreciated for it. To those who
comprehend our merit: thank you!
"I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well."
-Alexander
the Great
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