Every teacher gets asked the question, "Why did you become a teacher?" My response to why I want to teach would have to be that being a teacher is all I have ever wanted to be. Of course, when I was little, I wanted to grow up and become a celebrity, but once I got to school and entered the classroom, I knew. I knew this was where I wanted to be, in the classroom, not just as a student, but as the teacher. I admired my teachers as they led the class and just thought to myself, "I cannot wait until that is me at the front of the classroom." The very first day of school I came home and told my parents I wanted to become a teacher when I grew up and I have never changed my mind since. I do not come from a family of teachers, and I am the first in my immediate family to attend a university. Fortunately, all through elementary school I had fantastic teachers who I looked up to, but I met THE teacher in high school. Her name was Mrs. Palmer, she really took my hand, opened my mind to see all the possibilities, and touched my heart. As I stated before, I always knew I wanted to become a teacher, but she helped me bring out my full potential and showed me that I could be just like her and all of the other teachers I had admired growing up. I loved and still love the way Mrs. Palmer teaches. Her classroom does not just feel like a school classroom, it feels like home - exactly how I want my classroom to feel for my future students. I could tell she cared about us not just as students, but as individuals. I want to teach because I want to be that teacher, I want to reach my students not just academically but also personally, because they are the future.
I want to go on teaching grades K-2nd but I have a passion for reading that I want to share my passion with students who might struggle when it comes to reading. After teaching for two years and acquiring my master's degree, I would like to become a reading specialist at an elementary school. Reading is all around us and it can take us to extraordinary places if we embrace it. Reading also helps us communicate and understand others and we may feel lost if we struggle with reading, so I want to help those children find their way. I believe no child should feel lost academically, because there is always someone willing to help, and if there is not, I want to be that person for them. I want to work in the elementary setting because I have always worked with younger children and absolutely enjoy it, but also because I believe our foundation for reading takes place as soon as we enter school.
