I Want to be a Teacher.

I want to be a teacher. Every time I tell someone I'm an English Education major they ask me, "Oh, are you sure you want to teach?" with this look of doubt, and they almost look at me with pity. I know that I have zero idea what I'm getting into, but unless you're a former/current teacher, your opinion does not really hold validity for me. How could you possibly know what's it's like in a classroom unless you've been there? So please, save your advice. I'm not saying this to anyone in particular, just the general population. Also, it makes me feel like you doubt my capabilities, and I'm not trying to brag on myself, but one of my values I like most in myself is my hard work. Every person in my family is a hard worker, and that's a value my parents instilled in my sisters and me, and if you've met my mother, you know she's quite possibly one of the hardest workers out there. And you saying those works to me with doubt in your voice just makes me want to work harder.

I want to be a teacher.
 I know the public school system is messed up. I know it needs reform. I know the government puts way too much emphasis on school funding and meeting AYP and not enough on a student's individual growth. These assessments make it difficult for teachers to not "teach to a test," but it can be done. Reform starts in the individual classroom. 

I want to be a teacher.
I want to touch lives. I want students to know that I am there for them and will do whatever I can to help them with their school problems or with anything else they may need help with. I want them to know that in this world where it too often seems like no one cares, I care. I want them to know that they matter, not as a statistic, but as a human being. 

I want to be a teacher.
I want to show students the beauty of Literature, and how books, poems, and short stories offer an escape, if even just for a little while. I want to join them on their adventures of floating down a river with Huck Finn, fighting Voldemort with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, get annoyed with them at Heathcliff and Cathy, figure out who the real Boo Radley is in To Kill a Mockingbird, and so much more. I want my passion for books, English, and Literature to excite my students.

Not only to I want to be a teacher, I am called to be a teacher. Do you think standing in a room full of teenagers doesn't scare the heck out of me? Because it does. Do you think I'm not afraid to meet AYP and all of the other standards once I become a teacher? Because I am. But this isn't a choice for me to make. It's a choice that He made for me. I started college as a Psychology major, despite my love of books and papers, but halfway through my freshman year I could feel that it wasn't right. I didn't like my classes and I just had no interest in them. I spent a lot of time in prayer and it was as if God said, "Why are you denying me so? You know what you're supposed to do." And I knew, I'd known all along. And the second I turned in the forms to change my major I felt relieved, and I was excited. In my excitement I told my family and friends about my change in major and no one was surprised. If you haven't noticed, I'm pretty stubborn, and I tend to have to learn things the hard way or in roundabout ways before I fully understand what God is trying to tell me. I love my English classes (in the way a college kid loves classes), and I've enjoyed my education classes. And when I think it's going to be too hard or I don't want to, I hear God telling me that I don't have much of a choice, because this is what He wants me to do. Every time something gets in my way, He moves it, and I get closer to teaching one day. 

When people talk about politics I tend to keep my mouth shut because I'm not well enough informed, but when it comes to public education, I can speak what I feel, because that's one topic I'm passionate about and do my best to keep up with.

I want to be a teacher.
Too often this world teaches teenagers that they can't. I want to tell them they can. I want my classroom to be a safe place where students can bring their ideas and express their opinions. I want to be the hard teacher. In a way I don't want my students to like me in the beginning, I want them to think I'm hard on them. But as their hard work pays off I want them to grow to love me because I challenge and push them. Those are the teachers that make the biggest influence in my life. The ones that pushed me and challenged me are the ones I think about when I do well on a paper or an assignment, and I want to be that teacher for them. I want to make a difference. No, I don't want to, I'm going to.

I want to be a teacher.

Smile, God loves you.