Thursday, December 2, 2010

Influential People

           While growing up I had many influential people in my life. Other than my family members the people that stand out the most were my teachers. Every one of them, from my Pre-School teachers at St. James Catholic School to my professors here at Mount Union College, have impacted my life in some way.  Some of them impacted me through the curriculum they taught me, others through their personality and enthusiasm to teach, and a few by their willingness to push me to succeed and strive for to be the best.  All of these teachers have influenced my decision of wanting to become a teacher in their own individual ways and I hope when I further my career I will be able to be just like them.
Having wonderful teachers like I did throughout my elementary, middle, and high school years made me realize that teaching would be something I was really interested in.  As a young child I attended a private catholic school, St. James, from Pre-School to the Sixth Grade. While attending St. James I had formed very close bonds with all of the teachers there because there was only a maximum of twenty students in each classroom and grade. With this happening it gave the teacher plenty of time to get to know her students beyond the classroom. With these teachers being able to know everything about me made me feel more comfortable around them and made me look up to the teachers even more because they cared about my activities outside of school, even though I was so young. As a child I always wanted to be at school because I loved all of my teachers, which is why I had perfect attendance all throughout school until my freshman year of high school. They showed me that caring about each and every one of your students makes them want to come to school every day because they know that someone is at school wanting to see them and wanting to teach them more about the life around them. I want to be able to bring this mentality to all of my students when I become a teacher. I want them to know that I will care about every one of them and be willing to do anything to help to succeed. I wanted to be just like all my teachers.  In high school I had many teachers similar to the ones I had in elementary school. Many of my teachers in high school pushed me to achieve not just in school and sports but in everything. They taught me that nothing was impossible and that I could do anything I set my mind to. With all of them pushing me to do my best I believe they helped form me into part of who I am today. If it were not for them being there every day to help me succeed I do not believe I would have excelled in school and sports as much as I did. Also, in high school, many of my teachers were energetic about teaching which made everything about their classes so much easier. The teachers like this also helped make my decision about teaching because I could tell that they loved everything about their job and did not mind coming in every day and being around children. They were willing to step outside of class and do anything you needed them to do, write a recommendation letter, talk about your day, or just acknowledge you as you walk down the hall. These kinds of teachers made me realize that I would be interested in teaching because they showed their love for the job and nothing ever made them not want to come to school in the morning.
          As you can tell, the teachers I have had growing up have had a big influence on why I am interested in becoming a teacher for the rest of my life. I feel as if teacher can have the biggest impact on children of all ages. I figured teaching would be good for me because I want to be there for children and love working with people. I love the interaction and knowing that I am able to teach them something.  I want to be the kind of teacher like I had, pushing my students to be the best they can be, but also having them enjoys themselves as they succeed. I want the students to be able to look up to me and say that maybe one day they want to be like me and do the things I do. I can see myself being a kind of pushy teacher just because I would want the best for my students. I also see myself being a fun and interactive teacher. I do not want to be the teacher no student wants to have because my class is boring and they get nothing out of it. I want to be able to do for my students what my former teacher have done for me. I want to be able to see their faces light up once they learn and understand something. I want to be able to feel satisfied and accomplished after seeing all my students excel in everything they do.

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