A New Attitude

              As deep as my Education 250 class gets during each meeting, I constantly leave with many large “takeaways” on the topics and concepts we discuss. Although the session ends for the day, my brain continues on, digesting all that has been introduced to it. This week, however, has been vastly different. We only met as a class once due to our professors’ conference and our need to work on our philosophy projects.

A great deal of this class time was spent in preparation for our first clinical experience. We discussed logistics, expectations and how/when we will be debriefing. It is incredibly hard to believe that we will be making our first venture to a local elementary school. There, we will attend various classes and observe the different teaching styles and overall atmospheres set in the rooms. While I have tutored in elementary school classrooms before, I am extremely excited to return looking through a new lens. My hope is that I will have a heightened perception of the different aspects of a teacher so that I may see things I have never seen before. I believe this will primarily be due to all that I have learned over the short month that I have spent in Education 250. I already feel as if I am approaching education with a completely refreshed mindset and I am eager to see how it will affect my direct classroom experience.

While this conversation gave me great encouragement and a lot to process, my brain has been fixated on one claim Dr. Parker made within the first fifteen minutes of class.

“Teacher education is like medical school.” –Jason Parker

Although it was probably meant as a small warning to take our clinical experiences seriously, I have taken it to mean so much more. Being a teacher is a serious profession. Even though many have belittling views due to negative experiences during their own schooling or the salary associated with it, teachers have a great deal of responsibility.

As future teachers, we have the power to care for others from many angles. We have the power to empower future generations as they grow to eventually take charge. We have the power to impact our children in ways that can change their lives from negativity and struggle to optimism and strength. For these reasons, it is not something to be taken lightly. Becoming a teacher means becoming an example for how we want the future to look and what values we want to be upheld. Therefore, it is only appropriate to train rigorously so that we are well prepared for whatever obstacles we will face. Although it’s hard and the workload is rough, it is worth every step of the journey.