When I went to college, I knew that I was going to study to become a teacher. I had realized that I wanted to teach elementary school when I was a junior in high school. I got the inspiration to become a teacher through the overwhelming support that I received from my teachers in high school. Without the overwhelming academic and emotional support I received in high school from many different teachers, I may have chosen another profession.
When I set off for college, I knew I had a long educational road to travel before I would be able to reach my goal of having my own classroom. Where I went to school, education was a certification program. The college wanted you to major in biology or math, and then be certified to teach. I chose to major in religious studies, and get my elementary certification as well.
After I graduated, I began substituting as a special education aide at Moses-Dewitt Elementary School. I received a full time teaching aide position the following school year. I spent the year working in the elementary school as a special education aide before I began pursuing a graduate degree in teaching. Working as a special education aide for a few years has better prepared me in becoming a teacher.
My future classroom will be filled with students of varying abilities, some of my students will have documented learning disabilities. My hope is that having worked one on one with students with learning disabilities in classrooms from kindergarten to 4th grade, I will be better able as the teacher to address their needs within the classroom. Also, I think because of my experience as an aide, I will know where I can seek assistance for the students that are struggling if I am unable to help them myself within the classroom.
Now that I am nearing the end of my education to become an elementary school teacher, I am again reassured that teaching is a career that is the right fit for me. It is the right career for someone like myself for so many reasons. I want to teach young students the material that they will need to know in order to go forward with their lives. I myself have been through what they’re going through already. I want to be the teacher that understands when a student doesn’t quite get something that has been presented to them. I had tremendous difficulties with my learning. I will help them get to a place where they are able to understand. The teachers that I had in school would sit with me to teach and explain the material I was having trouble with in a slightly different way until it clicked in my head. I feel that my school experiences have gotten me ready to begin my career as a teacher.