Throughout my time in school from pre-k until now, I have had the pleasure of working with several influential teachers. Because of the teachers I’ve had, I was fortunate enough to realize that teaching younger kids is my passion. The mark that many of my teachers left on me has made me realize that I want to do that myself, for future students. Nothing is better than having a marvelous teacher who helps you learn and grow, as well as a role model to look up to. However, having a teacher who does not have a positive impact on you can instantly make you think less favorably of them and dread going to school every day. My goal is to make sure my future students will look forward to coming to class and learning with the help and support of a superior teacher.
I will never forget my 3rd-grade teacher that inspired me, at the young age of eight, of my dream to become an elementary education teacher. I can remember in detail walking into his classroom on the first day of school. All of the bulletin boards were neatly organized with colorful and shiny decorations that immediately caught my eye. Many posters with cute characters hung all over the room with helpful tips for the subjects of Math, English and Science. Then there was my teacher, who stood at the front of the classroom and greatly each and every one of us with a friendly smile and a “Hello, Welcome to grade three I’m so excited for what this year has in store for us.”
On the desks, we all found our nametags and sat exactly where they were placed. Shortly after, we had the opportunity to decorate and color them however we liked. Being creative is one of my favorite things to do, especially as a kid, and I had the opportunity to do so. I could not be more excited! After finishing up our name tags, we each got to share what we put on them with the class along with our favorite activity we took part in over summer vacation. I was able to tell my fellow classmates about myself, as well as learn about them.
As the year went on, my teacher took the time to explain each lesson and always asked if we had any questions. He made sure he answered everyone’s questions until we all understood the answer. Not only did he have the patience to explain all the material in depth, but he also made sure to have multiple lesson opportunities to satisfy the needs of all the different types of learners in the class. He recognized the best way each of us learned and made sure to incorporate all of our learning approaches into everything he taught. This made me enjoy learning because I understood all of the information and it made me feel confident and intelligent.
Not only did he take the time to prepare efficiently for his lessons, but he also made sure to meet with everyone’s parents each quarter during conferences. My parents always came home after meeting with him and told me how proud they were of me; they made sure to take notes on exactly what he told them. He told them how I was improving, showed them my classwork, and also told them what I need to improve on and how I can do so. Because my teacher spent so much time with everyone’s parents during parent/teacher conferences, our parents were able to better understand where we were at and how they could help us. As you can see, my third grade teacher was astonishing and he will always remain in my head as I continue on with my teaching career.
Unfortunately, in 4th grade, I was not so lucky with my teacher. Unlike my third grade teacher, she was not as pleasurable. I can’t say she was a terrible teacher because she did teach me every day, however, she had a negative impact on me. My first day in fourth grade was not as memorable as my first day in third grade. In all honesty, I cannot even remember what we did. I do remember that she did not take the time to get to know us as the different individuals we were. She had only planned one type of lesson opportunity for each lesson, which was not to the best advantage of all the different types of learners in the class. I remember struggling sometimes with the work because I had a different learning technique than the one she decided to use for her lesson.
Not only did she not include all the different types of learning approaches when she taught, but she also flew through her lessons to get them done and over with. I am not one that learns things right away. I need to take the time to comprehend what I learn and practice it several times until I completely get it. I remember coming home to my parents so stressed over my homework that I would sometimes cry because I did not understand how to do it. This brought me down and made me feel unintelligent.
On parent/teacher conference night I remember my parents coming home with a much smaller list of my accomplishments than they did they previous year. They still made me feel proud, but I felt like I was not achieving as much as I used to the year before. I believe this was because my teacher did not take as much time to sit and talk with my parents like my 3rd-grade teacher did. I did know my parents were still proud of me, but I felt like they did not have much to be proud of when I knew I applied myself more than what my teacher had told them. That really upset me because I felt she should have spent more time talking to them about my accomplishments in the classroom.
My 4th-grade teacher had a negative impact on me; however, I will never forget her because I know today that I surely do not want to become a teacher like her. I want my students to be able to appreciate me and look up to me.
Throughout my years of education, I have had many awesome teachers. When I peruse my career in education, I will remember all of my teachers; both the positive impacting ones and the negative impacting ones. I will forever take with me the experiences I had with my wonderful 3rd-grade teacher. Not only did he teach me the basic 3rd-grade lessons that were mandatory to teach, but he has also taught me how to become the best teacher I could be for my future students.
