Educator+Essay


 * Introduction ** ~ As a young girl, I always found myself spending any available time playing school. While my aunt would send down extra copies of her teaching materials, I would try to teach them to my little sister, who was clueless to anything being much younger than I. I still took great pride in teaching and even marking her papers. As I continued in my own educational career, I was absolutely oblivious as to what I saw myself doing in the future. I knew one thing; I was only in school to socialize, not to learn. I later found out that this was very untrue. I felt that even though I understood that my education was important, I still had a feeling that I wasted so much precious time. I went to college at the local community college and found myself very disinterested in what I was learning. At this point I was still unsure of where I saw myself. About six months before I was due to graduate with my Associate’s Degree, I really sat down and thought about what I saw in my future. This is where I thought back to my childhood, with a little help from my father. All those memories I had with my siblings paid off. I remembered where I found my joy. It was in educating other children, or at this point, attempting to. I transferred to a University, at which point I still thought it was too late and I had ruined my future by not being serious. Again, I soon found out I was wrong. With my father by my side, we entered the University and sat down with an admissions officer. From that moment, I knew this is what I wanted and I was going to do what I needed to succeed and fulfill my own dream of teaching.

Today, I have grown ever fonder of my intentions to be a good educator. I find enjoyment watching the children reach that “ahh” moment. My goal is to continue on this endeavor of raising new challenges for the children so that they may broaden their educational experience. I am currently enrolled in my Master’s program so that I could offer as much possible to the children. Teaching children is so rewarding. There is nothing better than providing a basis of education, setting a minimum on goals and watching what the children can do. It is truly amazing. I have found where I am happiest, and I have found that in teaching. My new goal is to make a difference in the life of all the children I someday hope to teach.

**Philosophy of Education ** ~ Teaching allows me to embrace the opportunity to inspire and empower my students. With every student comes his or her uniqueness. Learning who my students are, along with their stories of life, is important in understanding their uniqueness. Within the classroom, I want the students to understand that they are all capable of learning. Due to the factors influencing their lives, such as their culture, background, and prior experiences, I will strive to build upon their prior knowledge and experiences. No student shall be underprivileged within my classroom. Every person comes with an individual need and learning ability. Every student will be included and accepted for who they are by their peers and me. Building a classroom of respect and rapport is important to me. Every student shall treat others just as they would like to be treated. Respect is an important aspect of being a class. Supporting my students in all endeavors is important for allowing me to prove that I am there for them. To better educate and exemplify who each person is is essential to me.

While I hope to have ample time to instill new material, I also expect to gain as much of a learning experience from my students. My classroom will not be my own, but will belong to my students as well. I feel it is important for students to actively participate in their education. My classroom will be an environment emphasizing the importance of verbalization and self-expression. As their role model and confidant, I will have empathy for my students and the difficulties that many of them encounter in their educational experiences. Due to the idea that many students learn better by doing rather than seeing, my interaction with the students will be highly important. My classroom will be limited in regards to the teacher-centered approach. I will strive to provide the students with the opportunity to know that individual expression is important. I like the idea of collaborative learning, with my guidance upon need. Supporting the students and their independence is important to me.

Within my classroom will lay its own uniqueness, one of independence, togetherness, and acceptability. Everyone’s uniqueness is a trigger for growth both independently and as a group. An atmosphere of learning will filter throughout the classroom through my role modeling of different techniques. I believe that every student learns through exposure of different techniques of understanding materials. Through reading, elaboration through lectures and presentation of diverse visual media, collaborative working opportunities, discussion of materials, and projects connecting all the materials in focus allows every type of learner ample opportunity to understand. Through enabling the students to be active participants in their learning, the students will belong to an environment rich in promoting learning.

What I put into and what the students get out of my teachings are important to me as a teacher. It is important that the students are active in their learning, participate and give feedback. Students should not only learn the content I am teaching, but should also learn skills such as critical thinking, writing, and problem solving. I thrive to have the students gain the ability to build upon their previous foundations of knowledge.

I expect the students to not only gain concrete knowledge, but also to apply the knowledge they have gained from their participation in my classroom into their personal and academic endeavors. I hope my students will take with them the idea that their experiences can positively influence how they view themselves and the world. Through reflection of where they were in the beginning of the year to how far they have come will convey to my students why I have and will always have these expectations of them. I expect my student to expand their minds by enhancing their awareness of culture, diversity, and individual differences.

**Ethics ** - As an educator, there will be many times that I will encounter many ethical situations. Handling them will be a rough task at times. Relating to a recent ethical situation where I had to step back on my support for a colleague and face the principal regarding the students’ extreme dissatisfaction, which was obvious from subject percentages, I had to realize there are times when I will need to protect the students to the fullest. Being a strong person with deep morals will help an educator, or anyone, be able to make the right judgment call when an ethical situation arises.

**Position ** ~ I personally believe that education is a life long experience. Receiving and putting forward an education is the most amazing that one can do. I am personally very dissatisfied that many parents today feel that their children’s sports are more important that schooling. Too many children are pulled from the school to embark on family vacations. The value of education has taken a step in the wrong direction. While the government has placed such interest on achievement scores, there is not enough emphasis on their ideal of education alone. My goal as en educator is to teach the student the importance of their educator. I want to teach the students how education is not bored, but empowering. I want the students to know that I am dedicated to helping them, even more than academically.