Reflection #1: Introduction

   My dream was not to teach a classroom of 15 year old students.
My dream was to travel:

Maputo. 

Moscow. 

Guatemala City. 

Polokwane. 

Juarez. 

   Visiting these cities changed my world from a map to a globe, and as I prepared to graduate from high school, I knew I was meant to fly across continents. By airplane, of course. Three months later I began my education at ASU with a minor in Linguistics to prepare for my future. Over the course of traveling, I had fallen in love with the languages I heard as I visited different countries, states, cities, and villages: 

Mexican Spanish.

Shangaan.

English.

Russian.

Central American Spanish.

Afrikaans.

Portuguese.

   Language seemed to be my ticket to going somewhere. If I could learn English, study language, and throw in a couple of extras like Spanish and Italian, I would be able to communicate and work across cultures, becoming a world traveler in no time at all. English seemed like the natural second choice to the absence of the Linguistics major only offered at other universities. However, after only one year in the program, I began to value English for more than its status as a language. I had always loved reading, but now I couldn’t even get away from the anthologies of Medieval, American, and Renaissance literature that called my name. Writing, a different story altogether, also became an activity I came to cherish for the first time. Write an essay over taking a multiple choice test? Any day. My purpose began to change, and I found that working with children and students was part of my passion. Now, my content area is English, and this semester I will be teaching 9th grade students at the Central Freshman Campus.
 A classroom of 15 year old students. 
I really could not have more joy. 

   In 122 days (approximately 2 weeks after completing student teaching) I will marry the man I know the Lord picked out just for me. Because pursuing his dreams means San Angelo for a few years, I hope to teach at a high school in the district. One of the Central campuses would be ideal since my dad has taught at Central for over twenty seven years. Someday I may teach a classroom of students from Downtown Dallas or in South Africa, but today I’m here, and who can know where I’ll be tomorrow? One day at a time. 

   Teachers do wear many hats, but the top three roles I believe that a teacher has are educator, mentor/encourager, and model.

   Loving English came easy once I began my college education, but high school was a different story. A love for the content area a teacher has chosen is so crucial for success. For this reason, one of the top three roles of a teacher is that of educator. Students need an educator who is knowledgable and prepared to face the challenges of the classroom in terms of learning. Whether they want to or not, students are in school to learn. While I recognize the importance of students improving their skills in English and Language Arts, they are not always going to see long term. I am providing my students with the tools they need to succeed in life, wherever they decide to pursue it. By opening up students’ minds to the possibilities ahead of them, I can enable them to follow their desired career or education path with confidence.

   Middle school and high school are difficult times in the lives of students, and they need a teacher who will be their mentor, encouraging them when everything seems to be falling apart. Students should be able to walk into the classroom and know it is a safe place to grow as a group of individuals building our society. I believe the role of the teacher as mentor/encourager is important because students often do not have support in any other aspect of their lives. As a teacher, I am responsible for a student knowing they can succeed even when others do not believe in them. I have the opportunity to build up my students with an hour - an hour that some of their parents do not even have.

   A final role that a teacher plays in the classroom is that of model. The teacher will always serve as the students’ model. While the student has the choice of whether or not he/she will follow the model (whether excellent or poor), the teacher provides the most accessible example for students of what they can expect from life. From relationships to grammar, students pick up the teacher’s philosophy of life without ever reading his or her philosophy of education. Teachers should be prepared to model a positive outlook on both life and education for their students, allowing a(n appropriate) look into their personal lives as examples for the students.

Now for the fun part. Or at least, I think so.

    

  This is the handsome guy I get to spend the rest of my life with.

                    

  My wonderful family, including two younger sisters.

And a few photos from my trips:

Lions in South Africa

Red Square in Russia.

Children in Mozambique

ASU hand towel (already there!) in Guatemala.