An Aspiring Teacher’s Purpose

-Sara Winterling

Whenever I happen upon a situation in which I am unsure of something, I immediately use a resource, whether it is a reference book, novel, or the Internet, to find the answer.  I make no claims at knowing everything because I don’t, nor will I ever know everything.  However, I have always had an internal commitment to learn everything there is to learn.  This makes me want to strive toward success when student teaching, learning everything I can in that experience from any veteran teachers willing to share what they know with an aspiring novice.  Further, my instinctual desire to learn creates a need to teach within me, wanting students to succeed through education. 

I like working with different forms of media, including the Internet, non-print texts, and video, and using different approaches, like utilizing multiple forms of intelligence, to teach the curriculum.  As much as I want students to learn the material in the classroom, I also want them to learn skills that they can use in other classes, as well as in the real world.  As a new teacher, I know not every one of my approaches will be successful, but there is something to be said for the knowledge I will gain from attempting an activity, failing, and figuring out how I can possibly change it to work for me.  This chance for personal reflection that will benefit both my class and myself is a challenge that I am excited to undertake.

Being an English Language Arts teacher is a weighty responsibility I look forward to taking on.  English Language Arts not only includes grammar lessons and literature, but ventures forth into creativity and exploration through texts.  Adolescents grow from dependants to independents while in secondary education.  Teaching is a role that naturally demands compassion and discipline while teaching life lessons through objectives and procedures. I am looking forward to the chance to get in a classroom, do my thing, and maybe make a difference in the lives of a few students.