Why I Want to Teach
By
Robin Crim
EDUC
5113.01 Dr. McMahan
"If a child is to
keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least
one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, the excitement, and
the mystery of the world we live in." --Rachel Carlson
As I reflect on my upbringing, mentors, education and
accomplishments, the one resounding theme continues to resonate, learning. I am a lifelong learner. I am blessed to have been raised by lifelong
learners. I have surrounded myself with
people who respect and admire the art of learning. My personality and my work ethic all coincide
with learning and the field of teaching and I am eager to express the idea of
why I believe that this should be my chosen field.
I have stated in one of my Discussion Responses that I
want to be an out-of-the box thinker when it comes to teaching. I want to be able to teach students through
examples and experiences that will stick with them for the rest of their lives
and help push them to be the people that they will become. I am blessed to have parents who were those
teachers for me. Every experience was a
learning one, my parents made sure that every new thought was valued and
cherished. My mother was an avid pursuer
of learning experiences for my brother and me starting from an early age. She took us to every museum, park and zoo she
could think of and introduced us to the joy of reading and illustration in
order to keep my brother and I engaged and learning. My bookshelves were full of Caldecott and
Newbery winners. Bedsides my parents,
there are a handful of teachers who made learning “real” for me. I do believe the one teacher who made the
biggest impact however had to have been my World History teacher my junior year
in high school. Mrs. Nelson made the
room into a miniature castle keep, our notes where drawings of what a castle
and the surrounding fiefdom might look like.
She helped to make history seem real and it was the first time I ever
had the thought of pursuing teaching as a career.
When the time came for me to go to college I had decided
that I wanted to teach but I felt that I should look beyond the classroom as a
place to teach and that is how I discovered the Museum Studies program and
Baylor University. Working in museums
has shown me that teaching can be done in many ways. I have led informational tours for all ages,
I have dressed in costume and performed in first person, I have climbed to the
bottom of the ocean and helped to bring up an ancient ship, and I have held
classes where hands-on experiences involving electrical sparks, fire balls and
motorized Legos were my tools for learning.
Museum education opened a whole new world of thinking about learning for
me and is a large part of how I approach teaching today. I am currently working in a Title One Early
Childhood Center in the Lewisville Independent School District. My joy of teaching comes from seeing the
seeds of knowledge being planted in such young minds. I love the way a child’s face lights up when
they understand something new or get an answer correct. It is a pleasure to inspire and motivate
children to be better, to be all they can be by opening new worlds and ideas to
them. My experience in museum education
gives me a hands-on approach to learning and the ability to improvise when
things are not going as planned. I am a
gifted public speaker and I am able to multi-task in situations such as
learning centers with a teacher guided station, where I can work one-on-one
with an individual while keeping the rest of the classroom on task. I also feel that being the mother of a child
with a learning disability has given me incredible insight into how and why
students need accommodations. I am a
firm believer in multiple sensory learning experiences with positive
reinforcement and affirmation for doing your best work. I also believe that a teacher can only be as
good as her knowledge, therefore, I am eager not just to educate children but I
also have the desire to continue my education and professional growth as well.
As a teacher, some of the initial challenges are to
become proficient at identifying the unique experiences, qualifications,
learning styles and disabilities that each student brings into the classroom;
adopting a teaching style that takes the student’s strengths and weakness into
account; and providing the proper instructional guidance and motivation each
student needs to advance their knowledge and understanding of the lesson and
ideas that are being presented. I
believe that my role in the classroom is to guide and interpret learning
activities so that students find meaning in what they are learning. It is my goal to provide authentic learning
experiences that not only interest the student but also guides them to becoming
intelligent, problem solvers who are prepared for today’s society. I understand that it is the teacher’s
responsibility to provide students with the skill sets and knowledge required
to maintain state and national guidelines, but I also believe that it is my
responsibility to encourage students to go beyond what is essential and use
their knowledge to impact their lives and the lives of those around them. In the classroom it will be my goal to relate
lessons to the student’s interests, get students involved in their own learning
by allowing them to participate in planning and to give students frequent
meaningful feedback on their accomplishments as well as their failures.
In all, I believe that being a teacher is what my life
has led up to. I am encouraged every day
by the wonder, surprise and laughter of the children that I have the
opportunity and blessing to connect with.
I am driven by that student who is “unreachable”. I have the desire to educate myself so that I
can become better at being an influence and mentor to those students who will
one day look back and think about what experiences and people helped to mold
them. I want to be that “one adult” who helps
students discover the joy, excitement and mystery in the world we live in.
