Becoming a Teacher

When I was younger, I would play school with my older cousin. Of course, I was ALWAYS the student. I use to ask to be the teacher all the time but she never let me. If you were to ask her, she is the reason I became a teacher but it has always been what I wanted to be when I got older. My best friend and I would always talk about how we wanted to be teachers and have classrooms right across from each other. At that time in our lives, it was so we could write on the chalk boards and make sure there was never any marks on them when we erased the board. (Now I try to have the cleanest dry erase board.)

I truly enjoyed school and learning. When my mom would take my brother and I to Toys R Us, I would go straight to the practice workbooks. I would pack and unpack my backpack in anticipation for the first day of school. I have always had a love for school supplies!

A big reason I wanted to be a teacher is because of my fifth grade teacher, Ms. Stawicki. She truly made learning fun. (Fun fact: my aunt’s favorite teacher was her fourth grade teacher who, you guessed it, was Ms. Stawicki.) Ms. Stawicki used PBIS before it was even a thing! She would give out “Stawicki Bucks” for turning in homework, perfect attendance, and other positive behaviors. Every other Friday, she would open up the “Stawicki Store” and we would be able to pick out little things to buy with our “money”, there was pens, pencils, and small toys.

My favorite incentive Ms. Stawicki had was the “Pen Award”. When she felt your handwriting was nice enough, she would hide the paper award somewhere in your desk. (Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure she put it in a book we were going to use that day.) My handwriting has never been the greatest but this incentive helped me try and achieve the use of writing in pen. I ended up receiving the award toward the end of the year. Finding that award was such a great feeling. I always thought I would want to teach fifth grade so I could mimic some of Ms. Stawicki’s teaching style. With all the effort she put into her job, she made an imprint on my life.

I have always loved children and knew that whatever career I chose, I would have to work with children. I started off going to school for child psychology but I wasn’t sure I was strong enough for the job. I changed my major to Early Childhood Education. I found a job at a daycare and began an adult studies program to receive a degree in Elementary Education. I graduated in May 2014 and was hired at my current school in August.

I taught fourth grade for two years. I realized that older students was not for me. I moved to first grade and had an amazing team that helped me adjust to a new grade while being pregnant. I went on maternity leave in February and ended up taking the next year off. (More about this in a future post.) This year I am in kindergarten and feel like I am finally where I belong.

The main reason I went into teaching is because I want to make an impact in at least one child’s life. This is my fourth year teaching and I am finally feeling comfortable in my teaching style. In my essay I wrote to get into the teaching program, I had written, “if a person doesn’t have the patience, drive, and enthusiasm to teach, then they are hurting the students.” I had this fantasy about being a perfect teacher, now I just want to be a better teacher than I was the day before. I am learning day by day that this is a hard profession and though I may not always be as patient or enthusiastic as I would like, my students know I love them. I have the ability to help my students develop a love for learning and self confidence. I have learned to embrace my off days and talk to my students about how we can better ourselves each day. I try to instill in my students that it is ok to make mistakes and have bad days but you have to learn from them. I want my students to embrace their flaws and to always come in the next day knowing that they have a fresh start.