Back in Spring 2009, I took a Introduction to Teaching as a Profession course.  I wanted to take the course to learn more about the profession. As part of the course we did a 30 hour classroom observations and we had to write a philosophy of teaching paper.  We had many options of how to organize our paper and I chose to write my philosophy by answering questions that could be asked in a teaching interview.  I’m sure my philosophy will change and become more polished as I get deeper into education classes and get more classroom observation and teaching experience.

The purpose of education is to spread knowledge of individual topics and skills through various teaching methods.  Education is vital to the success of all students and I intend to instill the value of education and knowledge into my future students. A teacher’s role in education is to guide each individual student so they can reach their full potential in learning their subjects and to always want to learn more.  A teacher should provide a sense of security and trust in the classroom, so students will be in an environment where they are not afraid to interact and gain more knowledge.  This is how I plan to design my instructional strategies. I want to create a learning environment, where students will feel comfortable and are always learning new information. I plan to keep my students engaged in knowledge and to teach them how to be successful members of society. I want to incorporate real life experiences into the classroom so my students will learn how to be productive citizens. I will instill in them the confidence they need to try new things and to never give up even if they fail. I want them to have a sense of curiosity so they will always seek out learning opportunities and to share the knowledge that they have with someone else.

My philosophy of education will take some aspects from the perennialism, essentialism, romanticism and progressiveness philosophies.  Perennialism and essentialism focus on the importance of subject matter knowledge.  In my classroom, I plan to teach my students about the great works from all cultures and religions in literature, so they will have a solid foundation in their analyzing and learning about different truths and cultures.  I believe that incorporating technology, science and math in my teachings of literature will help the students in becoming well rounded, diverse and able to adjust and compete once they are in the real world.  I will place a special emphasis on using technology to provide a more interactive classroom and allow students to participate in the lessons.

The romanticism and progressiveness philosophies focus on the student rather than the curriculum.  While, I believe curriculum is important, you still have to be able to meet the students’ individual needs and make sure they comprehend the lessons. Focusing on the student in the lessons will keep the student interested in the lesson and they will learn more from it.  Cooperative learning is a great way to keep students engaged and learning the material.  Being able to put students in groups and having them working on different assignments for one lesson will show them how to work together and they will remain engaged.
Personally, as a teacher I would take aspects from the subject matter philosophies and combine it with both the child centered philosophies. I believe that this approach will make me a well rounded teacher with the ability to grab the attention of the students and actually get through to them while teaching.

Career Goals

I want to be an English language arts teacher. I want to create a love of the written word for students and at a minimum a respect for it. I want to make words come alive and teach the students how to analyze and critique literature.  I also want to teach them how to use our language correctly so they will be able to effectively communicate.  My goal is to teach English and eventually down the road I would like to be a reading specialist. There are so many children who do not know how to read or are not reading on their grade and/or age level and actually comprehending the information and I want to help correct that.

Skill that will enhance performance
I have a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communications with a concentration in Print Journalism.  I also have a Master’s in New Media and I have worked as a web producer and video editor at the local newspaper.  I will bring my background in the communication and new media field to enhance my lessons. My degree taught me the latest and technical theories of digital and interactive communications. I plan to use my knowledge of interactive communications to teach my students how to use the web, create interactive projects and to get a better grasp of my literature lessons by learning how to research the backgrounds of authors and stories online.  I believe in the importance of using technology in the classroom because it will improve the learning process and engage students better.
My students will be able to create a class website that will allow them to have their own blogs talking about the literature works we go over and to display their assignments on.  I would like to teach them how to shoot a video of them acting out a scene from a Shakespeare play and they could create an electronic newspaper writing news stories about the works we discuss.  I have the knowledge on how to accomplish all of these things and would like to do them in class.  The students would learn a skill they can use in the future for other classes and projects.
Why I believe I am suited for the profession?
As an online journalist I do not feel like I am making a difference in anyone’s life. I want to be able to reach out and help someone, teach him or her something and see him or her succeed.  A career in teaching will allow me to touch many young lives and make that difference. I believe a teacher among all things should also be a learner.  To teach students to the best of your ability you have to always seek out new information and find new ways to present the curriculum. You also have to learn from your mistakes and adapt to many changes.  I am a life-long learner and am always craving knowledge. The teaching profession will allow me to learn something new everyday and be able to relay it to my students. I want to teach my students to be life-long learners and to always seek out knowledge.  I will have high expectations for each of my students. I will never let them give me anything but their best and I will push them to go a step further with their answers.  I am very flexible and can adapt to change, which I have a lot of practice from working in the news business.  I will continue to learn and expand my knowledge in my subject and present it to my students in an interactive learning environment. Above all I am a communicator, my background is in communications and I am use to communicating knowledge in an effective way to an audience. I will be able to translate this into a classroom.

Beliefs and Conclusion

I believe a child’s education starts first with the child, then the parents and then the teacher.  A child has to want to learn and be open to learning new things and the parent has to take action and interest in the child’s education for the child to succeed. A teacher can create an active learning environment, but if the child does not want to participate and if the parent does not reinforce at home what is taught in the classroom the child will only get so far. I want to create a teaching environment that involves the students’ interests and the parents.  I will create interactive lessons that will involve the interests of the students, so they will be more susceptible to the content and skills they are learning in the class.  I do plan to utilize a website that will allow parents access to be able to email me and participate in online chats about what is going on in the classroom and with their students. I will post the day’s lessons and homework online and create a way for parents to see their individual students grades and progress in class.  I also would like to send home a bi weekly newsletter for families who do not have access to the Internet at home.

I will be a dedicated teacher that will adapt to changes and continue to learn and advance my knowledge to help better my students. I have a background in being a tennis player and would really like to coach and be involved in the schools tennis team.  I am willing to participate in school activities as far as helping with the school newspaper or website and training my peers on ways they can use technology in their classroom.

I’m sure this needs work and I will be able to elaborate more and have concrete examples as I gain more experience.  But this is how I feel right now as a novice to the profession.

I am naturally curious. If I don’t know about something I quickly find  a way to look it up. The main reason why I got Internet on my cell phone is so I can always have access to look up various topics I come across. I consider myself a life-long learner. I will never be an expert at anything because I am always learning something new.  The idea of teaching, where I can have the opportunity to directly influence young lives, learn something new every day, be challenged and be creative with different lessons excites me. With my background in New Media and Journalism, I will be able to bring a unique perspective to lesson plans and will be able to use technology to enhance lessons that will intrigue the students.

I didn’t always want to be a teacher.  I wasn’t like so many other future teachers who knew deep in their soul that teaching was their career at a young age.  I didn’t really consider teaching until I was in graduate school studying New Media.  I remember my freshman year in college when I was trying to figure out which career path to take, my mother suggested teaching.  I remember saying I don’t want to teach someone’s bad kid.  As I got older, the idea of teaching started to pop in my head regularly.  I do enjoy being around children, I love the satisfaction of helping someone understand something and I like to encourage children to always strive to be better at something.  The more and more I thought about it education is a field that I really want to be a part of.  I’ve always enjoyed being in school and my favorite class was always English. I loved writing book reports, reading books and writing in my journal.  I want to bring my love of reading  and writing to the lives of teenagers to inspire them and teach them how to be productive citizens.

I know being a teacher is no walk in the park.  I’ve observed classrooms of middle school students, talked to many teachers, read blogs and researched the field to know all the ups and downs of the profession. I know if you don’t have good classroom management your students will walk all over you. I know about the endless grading, the parents who think there child can do no wrong and the pointless meetings, but I am ready for the challenge and will not give up.  A quote from Theodore Roosevelt is “The best prize life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”  I know without a doubt being a teacher will be so much hard work, but it will be worth it. I won’t complain about issues going in the school, I will try my best to find solutions and then implement them.  Students today need more guidance than ever, so I will try my best to get to know my students and structure my lessons so that it will interest them. I hope they will take something from me that will help them succeed in life.

I still believe all the pros of the profession surpasses the cons. I’m not going into teaching for the money or for the vacation time. I want to do this because I love to learn and to share my knowledge with others.  I want to make a positive impact on young peoples lives.  Teaching is a challenging career, but I can handle it and I’m up for the challenge.

I make goal lists throughout the year and on New Year’s Day I like to make a master list for what I plan to accomplish in that year.  For 2010,  I’ve made a short list but a very important list for major life changes.

1.  Read a book a week.  I use to read books in one -three days.  Now with motherhood, career life and taking online classes I don’t read as much anymore. I love to read.  I love being taken away in a story and getting lost in a book and my own imagination.  So, I’m going to cut back on tv and surfing the web (my biggest distractions)  and start reading a book a week.

2.  Write daily.  I  love to write.  I am going to start writing my first novel catered to young adults.  I will also take writing workshops and use writing prompts to build up  my skills and generate more ideas.

3.  Continue taking courses I need for my teaching license. I’m taking the Praxis 1 on Jan. 7th and will then formally apply to Old Dominion University’s Teaching Licensure Program.  If all goes as planned, I will be student teaching by Spring 2011. I’m taking 4 courses and a writing workshop this semester and I’m excited to get started.

So, those are my major goals for the year 2010.

I’ve made an important decision in my life. After a year of contemplating, I’ve decided to take my career path in a different direction.  I’m an online journalist and have decided this isn’t the career for me. I want to do something different, something more that makes a difference in lives.  I love to write. I love to read. I use to always have my nose stuck in a book and a pen in my hand writing constantly.  I need to get back to doing what I love.  My job as a web producer is basically me enhancing content with video, photos, archival stories, etc.  But I yearn for more. I want more challenges and I want to affect young peoples lives in a creative way.  It all goes back to my roots. I want my next career to involve books, writing, kids, challenges and creativity.

Journalism wasn’t the field I wanted to go into while growing up.  I didn’t even think about journalism until sophomore year in college. I didn’t really know what I wanted to be.  I came in as an English major, switched to Mass Communications, because I felt like I needed a particular profession and not be in a major that was so broad with career possibilities. Lately, I’ve been thinking I should’ve stuck with being an English major.  After I graduated undergrad, I went on to grad school to study New Media since that’s the way everything is going.  That’s how I got into online journalism. I never wanted to be a reporter. I loved the writing part, but the actual interviewing people, chasing sources down for stories didn’t appeal to me at all.  I wanted to be the greatest multimedia designer for a news site.  I’m only 25 and working in the field is not really what I expected.

After much research and soul-searching I’ve chosen to pursue two careers.  I love to read and to write creatively, so I’m going to write young adult novels.  The second career I’m pursuing is becoming an English Language Arts Teacher and Reading Specialist. I want to create a love of the written word for students and at the least get them to respect it. I want to make words come alive and teach them how to analyze and critique literature.  I want to teach them how to use our language correctly, so they will be able to effectively communicate. I want to show them how to write to express themselves and to give them an appreciation of reading. It baffles me how many kids do not like to read.  There are so many children who do not even know how to read and aren’t reading on their reading level. I want to be part of that mission of showing kids how reading is magical, therapeutic and essential to every day life.

So this blog will be a tale of my journey from journalism to the worlds of education and writing.