My journey as a teacher started from the time that I was very young. I have never considered another profession. I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher. It was just a matter of time before I narrowed it down to a specific subject. This passion for teaching came from being in a family of teachers and members of the school community. My childhood models have fused with my current philosophy as I have grown and learned more about the profession to lead me to believe that teaching is actually much like being in a family in its own right.
As a young child, I loved playing school. I also loved accompanying my father, who was a teacher and coach to summer football two-a-days. From an early age, I saw the immense impact that he had on his player’s life. I wanted to help students in much the same way. Many of them had tough home lives, and he was their role model, and really saved many of them. He is so great at helping students find their own path, and I really model my philosophy after that.
As I moved on in school, I began to have a strong connection with English. I loved to read, and I loved the creativity that the English classroom offered. When I finally made it to high school, I had four very unique and different English teachers, who showed me how interesting English is and can be for students if you approach it in the right way.
Unlike some of my classmates, my mind was made up as I headed to college. I wanted to be a secondary English teacher, and continue the long line of Skinner school employees. My mom was a secretary in a middle school for many years, and she taught me the true inner workings of a school. I feel like I have a better understanding of the administrative side as a result. My sister-in-law is an athletic trainer at a high school. My brother is a high school history teacher, and my other sister-in-law is a special education teacher. Through all of them, I have come to see what it is like to teach in secondary education today.
My undergraduate experience in English at Virginia Tech was definitely a great one. I had the privilege of working with some great professors, who not only taught me content, but showed me how important it is to relate the material to our lives, which is something else I take into the classroom with me. I had the privilege of continuing my schooling at Tech in their graduate education program. I was truly lucky to have a small group of students in my cohort, which has really allowed us to feel comfortable enough to delve into many important issues. My main professors at this level opened my eyes to the possibilities of technology in the classroom, which truly changed the way I approach my lessons, and made my classroom more relatable to the students who are living in a very technological world.
I have also been lucky enough to have great experiences in the classroom thus far. I have been a substitute, which has helped me to see how things have changed immensely in schools, even since I attended 5 years ago. I also had great cooperating teachers, with even greater students in my field experience, who encouraged me to jump in, and allowed me to learn, grow, and become extremely confidant.
As I am nearing the end of my schooling for now, I have come to the realization that the connection between family and the teaching profession grows even deeper for me. As a teacher I feel that you are like a parent, guiding your students. They are not always going to be perfect, and they may stumble along the way, but as their teacher, you are there to catch them when they fall, and to give them the tools that will guide them when they are out on their own. I also feel like in a family, you work together. In a school, it is important to constantly work with colleagues, so the students receive the best, most rewarding experience as possible. Finally, you are the most comfortable around your family, and you generally tend to model your lives after them. Great teachers make students feel at ease, and they are truly a positive spark in their lives.
