Blog Entry 8: The Most Important Thing I Learned

I learned a lot of important things while working for Mrs. Call as her TA.  I learned how to manage a classroom.  I learned how to teach.  I learned a ton of fun activities that I plan on using in my future classroom.

But by far, the most important thing I learned was why people become teachers and why I should become a teacher.  This actually didn't happen during the brief time that I was doing fieldwork observations but instead happened in January.  At Lincoln Academy TAs work as the substitute teachers if the teacher ever has to leave.  There had been a nasty flu going around and Mrs. Call was not exempt.  She missed four days of work and I was left to teach.  These four days, although miserable for her, were the best four days of my life.  It was the longest stretch in a row that I had to sub. And because she was sick her sub plans were somewhat incoherent which means I also had to use my own knowledge and skill.  But I loved it.  I even started crying one morning because I just so happy to be there and knew that my students were going to come in soon.

So, what was the lesson I learned?  Being a teacher is hard.  It requires a ton of hard work with little respect, little pay, and little reward.  So, why do people do it?  They do it for the kids.  They do it because they love the kids and because they want to see the kids grow up and succeed.  And I knew that I needed to become a teacher for that reason.  Nothing made me happier than seeing kids get concepts that had been hard to them previously, a smile on their face when they realize that you care about them, or the kindness that they showed to each other and me.  I would do absolutely anything for those kids, and that includes the daunting task of finishing college and becoming a teacher.  Which leads me to the path that I'm taking now.  I'm not very good at University but I'm doing it and finishing my degree for them.