Trying to make good on a promise, this post is part of a series.
1. What inspired me to be a teacher?
My road to being a teacher took a few twists and turns. This is the long story - condensed.
I realized pretty early on(probably 6th grade) that I wanted to teach. I liked helping people. I was a student tutor in class and I genuinely enjoyed helping people learn. When I got to college I took a class called "Intro to Education." I hated it. I didn't like people telling me how to teach. I was young and immature and absolutely certain I was done with the idea of teaching. I knew I liked history and really wanted to work in a museum so I studied anthropology. I just didn't get into a museum and once I started studying anthropology I realized how interested I was in biological anthropology and I began a double major in biology and anthropology.
Later on I realized I didn't really want to complete both majors and ended up finishing with a minor in biology. After college I wasn't sure what I wanted to do and I got a job at a high school as an aide and I remembered that passion I had at a younger age. I knew I wanted to teach again. I even looked into teaching English in Japan. In the end I went through an alternative certification and started teaching. It's not quite a "started from the bottom," but...well....here I am.
2. Why do I like being a teacher?
There are a few things I really love about being a teacher. First, I really do love working with students. That doesn't mean I don't get frustrated sometimes, but the only reason I might get frustrated is because I care about you and I want to see you do well, so when you don't act with the maturity (academically and socially) I know you're capable of - it's disappointing. I can say I've never dreaded coming to work as a teacher because I love my students and every day is new and different.
These unique days are another great thing I love about teaching. I love being creative, innovative, and trying new things. I don't like to teach things the exact same way twice.* I always think there's something that can be improved. Teaching allows me to be creative in many ways (blogging being just one of them) and I know that in any job I do I need an outlet for creativity. I'd really struggle doing the same thing every day, over and over. Although I might teach the same thing 3 times a day, a couple times a year, it's never exactly the same and every class gives me a (relatively) new experience.
3. What did I like doing as a kid? In and out of school.
This is a big question. I was a "kid" for a really long period of time - almost 20 years!!
Outside of school I always liked exploring. I've always been very observant.** I have a lot of brothers and sisters from different parts of the world, which always makes life interesting. One of my fondest memories of childhood is catching bumblebees with my brothers in our backyard. We had these honeysuckle flowers growing on the fence that would attract a lot of bees. He would catch them with his bare hands*** and we would put them in a jar and watch them. I won't tell you what eventually happened to the bees, but I would like to make my apologies to PETA and I will remind you that most forms of life need oxygen for cell respiration.**** Many of my interests continue to this day. I loved playing sports (soccer, baseball, basketball, football especially), exploring, going to museums, listening to incredible music, and watching Star Wars and Three Amigos.
There are a lot of other things I could say about my childhood (and road to teaching), but you'll just have to read my autobiography someday.
In school I really loved history (I was a big Civil War nerd) - and sub-consciously I liked science. Can you believe that my senior year of high school I took Anatomy & Physiology, Environmental Systems, and Chemistry? Yet I left high school thinking I wanted to be a history teacher. I didn't even realize how much I liked science. I know that's true about some of you now. You may not realize it, but you may end up with a career in a STEM field, even if that idea sounds cuh-razy right now.
I can't wait to find out where life takes you. That's also why I teach.
*yes, sometimes one semester might end up doing things that others don't - and vice versa
**I heard what you just said
***I'm not crazy. He can catch them. I'll watch them.
****Back off! I was a kid!
1. What inspired me to be a teacher?
My road to being a teacher took a few twists and turns. This is the long story - condensed.
I realized pretty early on(probably 6th grade) that I wanted to teach. I liked helping people. I was a student tutor in class and I genuinely enjoyed helping people learn. When I got to college I took a class called "Intro to Education." I hated it. I didn't like people telling me how to teach. I was young and immature and absolutely certain I was done with the idea of teaching. I knew I liked history and really wanted to work in a museum so I studied anthropology. I just didn't get into a museum and once I started studying anthropology I realized how interested I was in biological anthropology and I began a double major in biology and anthropology.
Later on I realized I didn't really want to complete both majors and ended up finishing with a minor in biology. After college I wasn't sure what I wanted to do and I got a job at a high school as an aide and I remembered that passion I had at a younger age. I knew I wanted to teach again. I even looked into teaching English in Japan. In the end I went through an alternative certification and started teaching. It's not quite a "started from the bottom," but...well....here I am.
2. Why do I like being a teacher?
There are a few things I really love about being a teacher. First, I really do love working with students. That doesn't mean I don't get frustrated sometimes, but the only reason I might get frustrated is because I care about you and I want to see you do well, so when you don't act with the maturity (academically and socially) I know you're capable of - it's disappointing. I can say I've never dreaded coming to work as a teacher because I love my students and every day is new and different.
These unique days are another great thing I love about teaching. I love being creative, innovative, and trying new things. I don't like to teach things the exact same way twice.* I always think there's something that can be improved. Teaching allows me to be creative in many ways (blogging being just one of them) and I know that in any job I do I need an outlet for creativity. I'd really struggle doing the same thing every day, over and over. Although I might teach the same thing 3 times a day, a couple times a year, it's never exactly the same and every class gives me a (relatively) new experience.
3. What did I like doing as a kid? In and out of school.
This is a big question. I was a "kid" for a really long period of time - almost 20 years!!
Outside of school I always liked exploring. I've always been very observant.** I have a lot of brothers and sisters from different parts of the world, which always makes life interesting. One of my fondest memories of childhood is catching bumblebees with my brothers in our backyard. We had these honeysuckle flowers growing on the fence that would attract a lot of bees. He would catch them with his bare hands*** and we would put them in a jar and watch them. I won't tell you what eventually happened to the bees, but I would like to make my apologies to PETA and I will remind you that most forms of life need oxygen for cell respiration.**** Many of my interests continue to this day. I loved playing sports (soccer, baseball, basketball, football especially), exploring, going to museums, listening to incredible music, and watching Star Wars and Three Amigos.
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| Li'l Mr. Early |
In school I really loved history (I was a big Civil War nerd) - and sub-consciously I liked science. Can you believe that my senior year of high school I took Anatomy & Physiology, Environmental Systems, and Chemistry? Yet I left high school thinking I wanted to be a history teacher. I didn't even realize how much I liked science. I know that's true about some of you now. You may not realize it, but you may end up with a career in a STEM field, even if that idea sounds cuh-razy right now.
I can't wait to find out where life takes you. That's also why I teach.
*yes, sometimes one semester might end up doing things that others don't - and vice versa
**I heard what you just said
***I'm not crazy. He can catch them. I'll watch them.
****Back off! I was a kid!
Is that picture really you?!? Because that's just adorable!
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