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Why Do I Want To Be A Teacher
"It's boring!" "I hate my teacher!" "School sucks!" "When I ask my church kids about school, they always answer the same negative, complaining way. Every time I hear their responses, I feel disappointed because I never hear them say anything remotely positive about school. One day, I want to hear my students exclaim, "It's awesome!" "I love Mister Chu!" "School rocks!" I want to see my future students enjoy being at school just as much as I enjoy being with them. I want to make school become their favorite place to be.
School will be a place where they will learn beyond what is found within the covers of their books, where what they learn will impact their lives beyond the school's walls. For example, Mr. Mack, my high school math teacher, influenced and taught me things that I had never learned from my textbooks, things more important than all the math equations combined. He showed me school is not just a place to learn but also a place to have fun.
One afternoon, I was studying for my math midterm. I was working on a sample exam, and I did not understand most of the questions on the exam. So I went to Mr. Mack's office and asked for help. He explained how to solve the problems, but I still did not understand. I felt very stupid at that moment and wanted to give up. Then Mr. Mack said, "Don't call yourself stupid. No one is stupid in my class. Everyone is smart in my eyes. You can't master something if you don't keep trying. Don't give up!" I was encouraged by his words and continued to work on the problems. After almost an hour, I finally understood! I was happy because I accomplished something that I thought I could not do. Learning became fun for me. He never gave up on his students and was always willing to help. Because of his influence, I also decided to become a teacher. In my opinion, it is important to make sure students understand the subjects they are learning. However, I would like to go beyond that and teach them things about the world, about life, things they will not find in their textbooks. I want to do exactly what Mr. Mack taught me. I want my future students to learn, but I also want their hearts to be educated as well. I want to see them use what they learn and apply it to their lives.
However, it is not easy to teach students things that are found outside their textbooks, especially for the younger students. One Sunday morning, a 5-year old kid named Jay walked into my Sunday School class for the first time. Although it was his first time, he was very naughty. He jumped on his chair, stood on the table, and hit the person next to him. He did not respect anyone in the classroom, including me and only distracted the other students. I told him to stop and told him I would send him back to his parents if he did not. After I said that, he ran away into a bathroom and locked himself in. I chased after him, knocked on the bathroom door, and asked him if he was okay. A few seconds later, he came out and he did not look too happy.I gently told him, "Jay, I know this is your first time coming to this church, but it does not mean you can ignore what I tell you and run away from the classroom." As I was going to ask him more questions, he told me to shut up. He said, "This is none of your business" and swore at me. I was so surprised at the way he acted. I did not even know how to react because I just could not believe what I had just seen and heard. I wondered if anyone ever taught him about respecting people. I wondered if his school teachers ever spent time talking to him about his behavior. I was disappointed, but I was also inspired to become a teacher.
In his theory of cognitive development, Piaget stated, "Children are active and motivated learners." They learn from what they observe. They are always curious about the things that are around them. Their energy and simple minds are encouraging to see. However, children are still young and immature. They are not able to decide what is right or wrong. They are unable to organize what they learn. So often, children will not realize they are learning things that are harming them. I am especially interested in teaching first and second graders, not only because I love younger students, but, in my opinion, first and second grade are the preparation stages for life. My experience with Jay helped me realize that this is the most important stage for children, because this is such a formative time in their learning and growth.
What elementary students learn today will impact their tomorrows. Establishing a solid foundation is critical to ensuring students' future success in life. I might not be able to teach them everything, but I do want to teach them things about life they can carry with them the rest of their lives - learning what is found within their books and also what is found without. Learning the subject material counts, but character counts as well. I want to focus on first and second graders because I want to help build a good foundation before they move on to the next stage. It is very important to make sure children learn the right things because everything they learn later will build upon what they had previously learned. For example, if no one corrects Jay's behavior, he will continue to misbehave, because he will think what he is doing is right. When he grows up, it will be difficult to correct him because his misbehavior will have become ingrained in his life. So often, teachers do not take seriously their role in establishing a good foundation for children. As a result, many children end up doing drugs, turn to cigarettes, violence, and other deviant behavior.
A future teacher. A life teacher. A foundation builder. School will definitely "ROCK!"
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