Everyone in the education field understands one another and pushes one another to become a better educator. Individuals who are in this field understand the pros and cons of teaching, the passion it takes, and commitment it takes as well. People who are not in this field don’t see everything that educators do, nor do they understand the reason behind wanting to educate the future. My professors all through my college career have pushed me to see past the negative and look for the positive and golden moments in teaching. My professors have stretched me and have reassured me over and over again of why I am becoming a teacher. I have run into people and ones who have asked me what I am going to college for. When I tell them to become a teacher, they jump to the usual “Oh so you’re gonna have summers off,” “That’s easy,” or “That doesn’t pay the best.” What they don’t know is that they have missed the whole point. Completely. I am not becoming a teacher to have summers off or to have a job that doesn’t pay the best. I am becoming an educator because I want to change the world and I get to see the future right in front of me. I’m becoming an educator to love on children in my classroom and to make a classroom a safe haven for students and not a chore or challenge for them.
A person that is so close to my heart is my sister-in-law, a teacher herself. Ashley is someone who stretches me to become the best teacher I can be. She tells me about her hard days and her good days. She doesn’t sugar coat the events that may take place in her classroom or during the school day. Ashley never fails to reassure me that the good days far outweigh the bad. She expresses to me that there will be tough days, even weeks, and perhaps months. Ashely speaks truth and life into me as I am becoming a future teacher. She teaches me about the why of teaching and the how. Every child is different and will need guidance a little differently than their classmates. This is the beauty of teaching because every child is different and unique in their own way.
Technology is becoming a huge part of the classroom and used to enhance teaching. Technology is creating new ways for children to learn and to differentiate in the classroom. Ashley shares new insights with me that can be used to better teacher students or enhance their learning. She shares new apps or websites that can be used creatively in the classroom.
As I am learning more and more about how to become a teacher, many pedagogies are shaping my path and my own philosophy. Two theories that I resonate the most with are Jean Piagets and John Dewey’s. Jean Piaget believes that they produce knowledge by their experiences. This is more of a “hands on” type of learning. Similarly, Dewey believed that children learn by doing. This means that children must interact with the environment to learn and adapt. I believe that children learn best by moving and not just sitting at a desk all day to be lectured at. By having students get up and move, they are exploring and learning new things.