Why do I want to become a teacher?
To tell you the truth, I haven't always wanted to be a teacher! From what I have been told, by my mother, when I was about two years old I said I wanted to be a stripper... yikes! As I grew older I decided that I really wanted to be a lawyer, if you know me at all you'd understand why.. I am probably the best debater I know, I never lose and argument even if I am wrong. The lawyer phase lasted for quite a few years; until I was about 12 or 13 years old. Sometimes I still wish I had chosen that route, but in life things don't always go as planned. Anyway, from about age 13 to age 17 I had my heart set on being a social worker because throughout my life I had experienced so much, some good and some bad, and I really just wanted to be that person who would be there for those people who have no one else to listen. However, yet again... things in life don't always go the way you expect they should. After all those years of hoping and planning I didn't have enough volunteer hours to get into the program (I actually did, the school just wouldn't accept them). So what do you do when everything you've planned for can't happen..? I decided to open my mind to other paths, and that's how I ended up in the Bachelor of Education program at Red Deer College.
In my mind teaching isn't really all that different from social work. We council our students about life, we provide a caring ear when students need someone to talk to, we wipe their tears when they are crying, we jump for joy with them when they are excited, and we motivate them when they are down. We are so much more than just the title "teacher", we can be friends to our students, role models and personal cheerleaders. We can be the one they need to push them to do their best but also the one who understands that there will be times when they just can't manage.
I would compare teaching to painting. There are some painters, a select few, who are able to create masterpieces by simply going with their gut and feeling the emotion they want to put into their work. However, there are other painters, a large percentage, who need things to be set in stone so to speak. These painters are more of the "paint by numbers" type, they go by what has been set out, and do not allow themselves the freedom to go outside the lines.
Now you may be wondering how all this psycho-babble about painters can possibly relate to the teaching profession... well here's how:
AMAZING TEACHERS:
Teachers who have a love and a passion for their profession will do anything, employ any method, to help their students succeed. They have a passion that is hard to find and they genuinely care about their students. These teachers are comparable to those select few painters who create their works simply by feeling the inspiration and emoting the passion which is already inside of them. This is the group I strive to be in.
The "paint by numbers" type painters are those who do not have the passion, the drive, the inspiration to be creative and perhaps controversial. They simply cannot do it. They must stick to the outline which they have been given. The vast majority of the teaching population can be compared to this. A lot of teachers choose to stick to what they have been taught, to what they see being done by other teachers. They basically stay close to what they know. because they don't have that fire inside them constantly telling them to try something new, to break free from the cookie cutter image of a teacher. I feel sorry for these teachers, because as I have already stated... in life things don't always follow the plan.. and without that fire inside of them how are they supposed to adapt to things not going as they had expected.
Regardless of which category you fall into as a teacher there is one thing you need to remember... your students need you to believe in them, they need you to show them that you care, and they need you to be there for them when no one else is. In my opinion, if you are unable to do any of those three things.... maybe being a teacher just isn't what you're meant to do.
I would like to end off by saying thank you to all who have taken the time to follow my postings, I truly appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Natasha.
In my mind teaching isn't really all that different from social work. We council our students about life, we provide a caring ear when students need someone to talk to, we wipe their tears when they are crying, we jump for joy with them when they are excited, and we motivate them when they are down. We are so much more than just the title "teacher", we can be friends to our students, role models and personal cheerleaders. We can be the one they need to push them to do their best but also the one who understands that there will be times when they just can't manage.
To me, teaching is an art.
You have to be able to go with the flow of things
and reinvent yourself when the time comes to do so.
I would compare teaching to painting. There are some painters, a select few, who are able to create masterpieces by simply going with their gut and feeling the emotion they want to put into their work. However, there are other painters, a large percentage, who need things to be set in stone so to speak. These painters are more of the "paint by numbers" type, they go by what has been set out, and do not allow themselves the freedom to go outside the lines.
Now you may be wondering how all this psycho-babble about painters can possibly relate to the teaching profession... well here's how:
AMAZING TEACHERS:
Teachers who have a love and a passion for their profession will do anything, employ any method, to help their students succeed. They have a passion that is hard to find and they genuinely care about their students. These teachers are comparable to those select few painters who create their works simply by feeling the inspiration and emoting the passion which is already inside of them. This is the group I strive to be in.
NOT SO AMAZING TEACHERS:
The "paint by numbers" type painters are those who do not have the passion, the drive, the inspiration to be creative and perhaps controversial. They simply cannot do it. They must stick to the outline which they have been given. The vast majority of the teaching population can be compared to this. A lot of teachers choose to stick to what they have been taught, to what they see being done by other teachers. They basically stay close to what they know. because they don't have that fire inside them constantly telling them to try something new, to break free from the cookie cutter image of a teacher. I feel sorry for these teachers, because as I have already stated... in life things don't always follow the plan.. and without that fire inside of them how are they supposed to adapt to things not going as they had expected.Regardless of which category you fall into as a teacher there is one thing you need to remember... your students need you to believe in them, they need you to show them that you care, and they need you to be there for them when no one else is. In my opinion, if you are unable to do any of those three things.... maybe being a teacher just isn't what you're meant to do.
I would like to end off by saying thank you to all who have taken the time to follow my postings, I truly appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Natasha.
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