Why a Teacher

I was never really asked why I wanted to be a teacher until Dr. O'Brien taught Aims for American Education class during the spring semester of my freshmen year. Up until that point I was never really sure of the exact reason I wanted to become a teacher. When we first got the assignment I was originally going to say that the reason that I wanted to become a teacher was because there are so many people in my family that were or are teachers, ten in fact. However, once I started to write the paper it was like the computer had a mind of it's own. I started writing about my teachers in elementary school and how much I hated them and how horrible they were. The paper just took a turn for the better. To make this make sense I am just going to break it up into teachers instead of grades because in most cases I have had all these teachers more than once.
Mr. C first taught me in forth grade for Social Studies. I enjoyed the class we did interesting things and he was not as bad am my older cousin and older brother made him out to be. I had him again at the end of fifth grade for Math and I remember I got 90 on the first test he gave, and it was the highest grade I ever got in math. In sixth grade he became my general teacher, during this time the "boringness" that my cousin and brother told me about started to become vi sable to me. I also had him in seventh and eight grade for social studies in which case the "boringness" continued. At the time I wish I knew what I do today, when I look back I realize that although he was boring he taught me a lot of information on history and social studies that I still know today. When I think about Mr.C now I think he was not challenged enough in the small private Catholic school I went to. Although I think he loved his job, I personally think he would have been better off in a high school, college, or even some form administration. He even would have made a great Math teacher for the rest of my time at the school.
If you were to ask me which teacher I would say was the worlds worst teacher in the history of the the universe I would be able to answer that question in a heart beat, she was my seventh grade teacher. Her name was Miss. B. I hated that year with a passion. She had favorites and made no effort to hide that from other students who she basically did not like. I remember when we had the Science Fair during catholic schools week she gave us one day to come up with a project, one day to come up with a hypothesis, and two days to come up with a five page report, which now seems fair, but when you are only twelve it is a lot to do in a short period of time. Later on that week I heard her talking to someone saying that she forgot about the Science fair and had to rush to get it done on time for the school. Than, when the science fair came the teachers from each grade picked the winners and guess who Miss. B. picked? Why her favorite students of course, even if there project was not completed or right for that matter. I think that she had a personal vendetta against me because my mom had extremely tight connections with the Church that the school was affiliated with. Towards the end of the year I came up with a new name for her that I will not state now but if anybody wants to know just ask me in class. There were many other little things that she did that annoyed me too, she was constantly late for school when she live right across the street. I also had her in eight grade for a short period of time. Which, leads me to my next story. we read "Romeo and Juliet" after we finished the book we watched the movie, she would not let us watch the kid inappropriate scenes which is understandable. However, when that scene came on she turned the television to herself and giggled like a little school girl the whole time. I can go on and on, but I till have to cover one more teacher.
The first time I was introduced to Mrs. C this is when I truly started to hate Math, and I still do to this day. I had her in seventh grade again for math, and than once again in eight grade as the general teacher. I would not say she was a horrible teacher, I just would say that she was not the best Math teacher for me. I think she made a better Religion teacher, or even science teacher, but she was not my favorite in those subjects either. I think that in grades sixth, seventh, and eighth grades are the most important for establishing a good Math foundation and I do not think I got that from her. She taught other things well, but I just could never understand what she was saying during Math, and although she would take time aside to help me it never really helped.
I cannot say that all three of these teachers were the main reason I became a teacher. I mean Mr. C. is barley a blip on my radar of bad teacher and Mrs. C is only a blip when it comes to math. Miss B. is forever etched intro my memory ad will never go away and now I know that if I ever see her again I can thank her for one thing and one thing only. She is the main reason why I want to be a teacher.
Of course I had some favorite teachers too; Sister Margaret in second grade, Mrs. Barberi in third grade, Miss. Giorvosi in the beginning of forth grade, and that later Prohigh,and of course there was Mr. K. and even Mr. C., when I think about it more and more, but in his case I would only use what he taught us not his teaching methods.
High School for me was a fresh start No one from my Elementary school was going to my high school so I had a chance reinvent myself. I had some teachers in high school that I would rather forget like Mr. H, but other than that I cannot say that I had any really bad experiences in high school. High school gave me more inspiration for teaching than discouragement. Some of my best and favorite teachers came from high school. My favorite teacher from high school was Miss. Murphy I honestly cannot say enough about her, maybe in another blog.
There are many reason why I want to be a teacher: I love kids, I love finding or creating creative ways of teaching something,and a lot of people in my family are teachers and they have also inspired me. But, when people ask me why I want to be a teacher the first thing that comes to mind is my last three years in Elementary school and how much I hated it and how much I could not wait till graduate. How much I promise myself every day, everytime I walk into my classroom, that I will NEVER be Miss B. and that is my main inspiration. There is one other thing that also made me want to be a teacher and that is this song, it is my philosophy of education, it is the song "The Greatest Love of All" I believe this song is amazing and that if we teach students that loving themselves is truly"the greatest love of all". I would not say the whole song is my philosophy's but a pretty big chuck of it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1OoM3N7mfc

"Greatest Love Of All"

I believe the children are our are future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be
Everybody searching for a hero
People need someone to look up to
I never found anyone to fulfill my needs
A lonely place to be
So I learned to depend on me

[Chorus:]
I decided long ago, never to walk in any one's shadows
If I fail, if I succeed
At least I live as I believe
No matter what they take from me
They can't take away my dignity
Because the greatest love of all
Is happening to me
I found the greatest love of all
Inside of me
The greatest love of all
Is easy to achieve
Learning to love yourself
It is the greatest love of all

I believe the children are our future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children's laughter remind us how we used to be

This part of the song is what I consider to be my philosophy of education.

http://www.blogger.com/www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/whitneyhuston/greatestloveofall.thml

Anni
P.S. On one last not I ask that all of you try to take this song to heart when you start a teaching and also remember that a good teacher is not always the inspiration for someone to want to become a teacher.