Essential Knowledge: Why do you want to be a teacher?

Picture it; a little girl standing in front of a row of stuffed animals and dolls while holding a ruler. The little girl begins to instruct her class on the globe. had !nown from a "ery young age that had wanted to become a teacher. #y goal has been to hel$ $eo$le see the world in a "ariety of ways and to $romote them to get the best out of life. want my students to understand that what you $ut into life is what you will get out of it. #eaning% $ut forth great effort and you will succeed in life. want to be that teacher who ma!es an im$act on her students. want to be a teacher because it grants me the o$$ortunity to hel$ a child grow as a $erson and as a learner. &tudents e"entually become adults; it is crucial to inform and teach our students how to be successful and $ros$er in our society. want my students to later go on to do great things for our society' will ne"er gi"e u$ on my students; will encourage them to $erform to the best of their ability. Performance: (ow has your education $re$ared you for student teaching? The )ni"ersity of *orthern owa has $re$ared me for student teaching by $ro"iding it+s students with a "ariety of methods courses. These courses $romote success to future educators by dee$ening our understanding o"er content areas and $ro"iding e,am$les and methods for teaching those content areas. -urrently% am enrolled in the math methods course and will admit math is not my strong suit; howe"er% the methods course has made me gain an a$$reciation for teaching mathematics. now feel confident in teaching a math lesson due to the great $rofessors and methods courses the uni"ersity offers it+s students. *ot only does the )ni"ersity of *orthern owa $ro"ide it+s students with the best courses that foster teaching success% it also $ro"ides field e,$eriences. The field e,$eriences are a !ey as$ect to our de"elo$ment as future educators. ha"e learned a "ariety of teaching styles% ada$tation s!ills% classroom management s!ills% communication s!ills% and creating s$eciali.ed curriculum. Each e,$erience +"e had has been different'from economic status% cultures% languages% community% and grade le"el. E"ery e,$erience has led me to the teacher am today. #y e,$eriences in the field ha"e sha$ed me to become a di"erse% caring% and understanding teacher that will $romote student success in and out of the classroom. /is$ositions: What ha"e you done that has $re$ared you for student teaching? 0efore graduate with my degree in Education% told myself to 1oin organi.ations and "olunteer for e"ents so would ha"e more of an e,$erience wor!ing with a "ariety of $eo$le. "olunteered as a team leader for the &$ecial 2lym$ics at 3i"er (ills in -edar 4alls% owa. That is not my only e,$erience wor!ing with indi"iduals with disabilities. wor!ed as a $eer hel$er with students with disabilities in my high school 5Thomas 6efferson7 and e"ery morning the students would bring a smile to my face. learned so much through these two e,$eriences. 8nother "olunteer $osition ser"ed as a mentor at the 0oys 9 :irls -lub in Waterloo% owa. wor!ed with an adolescent female in the si,th grade. 2nce a wee! met with my student and wor!ed on homewor!% $layed games% and $artici$ated in arts and crafts. formed a great relationshi$ with my student; she felt comfortable to confide in me and as! for my ad"ice on school or home life situations. This e,$erience really o$ened my eyes to the im$ortance and $ower of human relationshi$s'es$ecially in the field of education. #y ;e"el field e,$erience was different from

my ;e"el field e,$erience. 0oth field e,$eriences taught me that e"ery classroom is different and e"ery student is different. ha"e learned that our society is created through a "ariety of $eo$le% cultures% beliefs% ethnicity% and economic status. #y ;e"el e,$erience o$ened my eyes to a new community and learning en"ironment had not been familiar with. was assigned to -ory ;e"endus!y+s second grade classroom at (ighland Elementary% in Waterloo% owa. (ighland Elementary is a beautiful school that is full of colored walls and welcoming faculty. 8t (ighland was the minority'the ma1ority of students were of (is$anic ethnicity. The students at (ighland s$o!e two languages; English and &$anish. There is a high $ercentage of E;; students 5English ;anguage ;earners7 who come from &$anish s$ea!ing families. ha"e ne"er e,$erienced such a culture change in a classroom before. am honored to ha"e been $ro"ided with this o$$ortunity to obser"e and wor! with -ory ;e"endus!y+s second grade classroom because it taught me to be o$en% understanding% and $atient with all students.