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She looks out onto the different faces in the room...the faces that will
be the future of tomorrow. Several children are actively involved
in today's lesson. One student goes to her to complain of a stomachache.
She knows exactly why--he never gets breakfast. She offers him a
pack of crackers from her desk and reminds him that lunch will be soon.
She watches him eagerly open the package and devour the crackers.
She knows that the meal he recevies at school will provide the only real
nutrients he will receive in a day. She says a silent, quick prayer
for him and returns to the group. She looks out onto all of her students
with the kind of compassion and tenderness that a new mother has for her
infant baby cradled in her arms.
This is a situation that could possibly face me someday. As a future
educator, this scenario is one of many possibilities in my career of education.
I feel that is takes compassion for all sorts of students to become an
effective, caring, committed teacher.
In this day and age I, as a future educator, will face different types
of students from families that range from traditional to environmentally
evolved. Families are changing. Traditional two parent families
are becoming the minority rather than the once majority. Grandparents
are raising their grandchildren as their own. Children are raising
children. Government financed families are on the rise. Yet,
when I put these entire issues aside, there awaits a child who deserves
my undivided attention and unconditional love--no matter what my values
of family life entails. When he or she enters my classroom, I become
more than a teacher. For some, I become not only their teacher, but
also their listening friend, mother figure, role model...the list is endless.
As an educator, I see myself as a guide to the students in my class.
I prefer my classroom to be a natural, flexible environment that is centered
around my students. I see my teaching of the academic curriculum
as something that revolves around the interests and needs of my students.
I feel that communication between my students and me is crucial to my success
as an educator. As a teacher, I feel that it is important for me
to contribute to my school as a team member with the entire faculty and
staff. As a human being, I am no better than my students. And
as such, I will not treat my students unfairly. In my classroom,
students learn from each other, as well as the teacher. I learn just
as much from the students socially as they do academically from me.
What other career demands professional expertise, as well as all that I
have mentioned above? This career is one that I am determined and
willing to give 110%!!! I feel that the field of educating tomorrow's
future is my calling in life. It's a career that I am committed to.
If I can make a difference in the life of a student, then I have achieved
my goal as an educator.
"ALL
CHILDREN ARE GIFTED...SOME JUST OPEN THEIR PACKAGES SOONER THAN OTHERS."
