It feels like home to me....

Some of you asked me why I want to be a teacher. My answer is simply that I love it. I love to teach. And I love children.

Ever since I was little I have wanted to be a teacher. I remember playing with my sister and friends and making them be my students. I loved being the teacher and having them do projects. As I got older I went through stages where I wanted to be a nurse or a chef. At one point in time I just wanted to be an artist. I even looked into each of these careers and tried to figure out how to achieve them. When it came down to it though, none of them really worked out or fit. I just couldn’t see myself doing any of those careers for a lifetime. They were all just fun to think about.

Going through the teaching class up here at the U and the experiences I have had in the elementary schools have made me fall in love with teaching all over again. The first time I thought I would like to be a teacher was when I was little and fell in love with my own first grade teacher. She made learning fun and entertaining. That’s when I started making others be my students. My third, fourth, and sixth grade teachers all did the same thing. They made learning exciting for me, not a job. I wanted to be just like them when I grew up.

The second time that I thought I might like to be a teacher was when I was sixteen and started to teach dance classes to little kids. I loved going to the dance studio each week and seeing what they had learned and remembered from the last previous one. It was such a joy to see them try and to see them succeed. By then I had gone through the ideas of becoming a nurse or a chef. But when I started to take those classes and pursue those careers, I would always come back to teaching.

The third time I came around the idea of teaching again was when I became a primary teacher in my church. I was called to teach the five and six year old's, and I was scared out of my mind. I had no idea of how I was going to teach them or where to even begin. I soon fell in love with the kids in my class though and looked forward to teaching them each week. I also began to learn which ways worked to teach them the best. I learned that you have to ask questions to get them involved and to keep them entertained. I learned that you need to have activities planned each week that will help them understand what you are supposed to be teaching. I also learned very quickly that the lesson doesn’t always go as you planned and that as a teacher you have to be flexible and willing to change things that just don’t work.

I truly knew I wanted to be a teacher when I was in a classroom for one of my first education classes. I believe it was Intro to Teaching. I was helping in Mrs. Jeppson’s first grade classroom. This was the first classroom I was in and I was scared out of my mind. I had no idea of what I was getting myself into or what I would come away with. With each week that went by I felt that I could come back and I began to relax a little. Each week I would get there the students would come charging in when the bell rang. They would race to the backpack station and hang their stuff up. They would then proceed to come to me and tell me about all of the new things going on. Each week I would also feel nervous again when Mrs. Jeppson would give me something new to do. I went from just helping the students with math and sitting in the back ground to helping them read, giving them spelling tests, playing math and vocabulary games with them, and coming up with a lesson to teach them. With each week came nervousness and joy. Each time I went more and more of them would come and talk to me at the beginning of class. More and more of them would ask for my help when doing assignments and more and more of them asked if they could leave with me when I left and then when I said no would say that they would wait till next week then.

My favorite day in the classroom was on Valentine’s Day. I had gotten to help each student make a bag the week before. They were all so excited that a holiday was coming up. On Valentine’s Day when I went in the classroom I was happy to see each bag lined up on the shelf by the back wall. Among the students bags I saw my own. I saw that some of the students had already brought in there treats for the others and I was excited to give them mine. When they students came running in after the bell you could tell that they were so excited to see what was going to happen that day. The ones that had not given their treats yet hurried to do so. They were all so excited to give each other what they had brought and to see what they had gotten so far. After the handing out of treats we did Valentine’s activities. The whole day was filled with laughter and excitement. It was very hectic but very fun at the same time. When I left that day I took my Valentine’s Day bag with me full of Valentine’s from each of the students. I was surprised that night when I went through it and found notes from some of the students along with their Valentine’s. The notes made me realize how much I had come to care for the kids and how much I had affected each one of them. The notes weren’t anything spectacular to people who didn’t know the kids, to them they were just scribbled sentences on a piece of chocolate covered paper. But to me they were amazing. Each one was special in its own way. That day something inside me clicked, and I knew that I wanted to be a teacher and always would.

People say that home is where the heart is. If this is true, then my home is in the elementary schools. I love going into those classrooms and helping out in anyway that I can. I love teaching the students and helping them to understand something that they did not get before. I love that look in there eyes when they finally understand something or when they have an idea. It is so exciting to see people learn and to discover. For that is what learning is. It is discovering the truths and myths about the world and connecting it all together in one crazy place called life. It is seeking for knowledge and gaining access to the mysteries of the world and I want to help others find it. I want to help people figure out the world and love to learn.

When I have told other people that I love to teach some of them said it is because I like kids. Others have stated that it is because I like to act like a kid and I like the same things the kids do. Some people think it is just because I am animated and the kids are the only ones that respond to my goofiness. But for me it is simply that I love it. I love being in the classroom. I love teaching them. It is where my heart is and when I walk through those elementary schools doors it feels like I have just come home. It is where I belong and it is where I want to be.