For those of you who may not know, I am currently attending a university in Florida and my major is elementary education. This week I had the exciting experience of beginning my second internship (of three). For my first internship, I worked in a first grade classroom, and this semester I am working in a third grade classroom. I was very nervous at first. After all, I haven't been in a third grade classroom since I was in third grade. I had many questions as I entered the classroom on my first day. These questions included: (1) How big will the kids be? (please, please, please let them still be cute and little!) (2) Will they like me? (3) Will they think my Hello Kitty ID holder and folders will be dorky, or is that still cool in third grade? (4) What kind of math are they doing? (please, please, please let it be something I remember how to do so I don't look stupid!) Thankfully, all of my questions were soon answered and I wasn't disappointed! I also found out that I will already be teaching Science next week which will be super exciting!
I am truly honored that I get to work with such an amazing class this semester. I know that I have so much to learn, but I have a feeling that I am going to grow a lot. I can't wait to see where this semester takes me!
Although I know completely that teaching is the career path for me, I didn't always feel this way. Until my Sophomore year of college I wanted to work with animals. But then one day I began wondering if my major (at that point it was Marine Biology) was right for me. After thinking and praying about it for some time, I felt as though I was being called to teaching. As I thought about teaching more and more, it seemed like the perfect fit for me. I had always loved children, but for some reason, until that time I had never considered working with them. I finally decided that teaching was where I was meant to be, and I changed my major. I haven't looked back since. There are times when I feel like I want to work with animals again, but then I remember that I can teach my students about them and educate them on how to help our environment.
Most importantly, I hope to teach my future students that learning can be fun. I didn't always enjoy school. In fact, some years I absolutely hated it (fourth grade was one of those years due to my horrible math teacher... but that's another story). I want my students to know that learning is worth the time and effort. It isn't a bad thing. It is a truly wonderful thing. The same goes for reading. So many children (and adults) that I know loathe reading. It makes me so sad because I think that reading is amazing. How else can you go on a free trip to another time and place without having to leave your couch???
I could go on and on, but I think I will end my story here. I am sure that I will be writing more about education and learning in the near future, especially as I continue to work in my internship.
P.S. Enjoy reading my blog? Feel free to click the "Follow" button or subscribe via email. :)
Thanks for this post Marissa! I've always felt that Elementary is probably the most important stage in a child's life because it's the foundation. Luckily I had a great and supportive group of elementary teachers and I often credit my elementary experience for my successes. I'm sure you'll be a great teacher in any grade! Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Rachel! That means so much to me. :) I too believe that Elementary is the foundation. I mean, you can't do calculus if you can't add and subtract, right? ;) I'm sure that you will be a great teacher as well, and I can't wait to hear about your exciting adventures in your internship!
DeleteBelieve me when I say I am terrible at math. I've always hated it because I never really understood it. When I taught them multiplication and division, everything made so much sense to me! I finally felt like I understood math! And if there was a lesson that was hard for me to understand, I would always let them know. If you're honest about struggling as well, but show them you can work through it without giving up, it gives them hope they can do it to.
DeleteThank you so much for the advice, Meagan! :) I am terrible at math as well. I think that telling them that you struggle with it would be a wonderful idea. I remember feeling so frustrated because I couldn't get it when everyone else could. My teachers always seemed to be thinking "this is so easy, why can't you get it???" I'm not sure if they really felt that way or not, but that's what I always believed at the time. It's funny because last week my students were working on fractions, and I was asked to assist one of the students. I was freaking out in my mind because I couldn't remember the last time I had to work with fractions. Thankfully, they were separating the numbers into groups and I found that it was a much easier way that I had ever been taught. I actually had fun helping my student because by the end of math class, we both understood it! :)
Delete