WHY TEACH?

I believe I can make a positive difference in someone's life.

WHAT EXPERIENCES INFLUENCED ME TO BE A TEACHER?

During my high school social studies class, my teacher allowed us to help decide our consequences if we got into trouble LESSON LEARNED: Allow and encourage student input about rules, activities, etc, but still take responsibility for my classroom.

In college, my communications teacher knew the class was lost on certain parts of the lesson so she went back and explained it to us even though it put us back a day or two LESSON LEARNED: Realize the importance of understanding the learning level of my students and adjust my material appropriately.

Another teacher in my high school decided to talk to me about improving my attitude which in turn taught me about respect; LESSON LEARNED: Implement realistic and age appropriate consequences in response to misbehavior.

I will never forget the teacher I witnessed who laughed when she made a mistake in front of the class; LESSON LEARNED: Have a sense of humor and a "thick skin". In addition,treat students with respect if you want them to respect you.

CAPP stands for Child Abuse Prevention Program. We perforned perform 3 role plays to elementary children (stranger danger, bully on the playground, and Uncle Harry) and then opened up the floor for discussion. The last 20 minutes students were offered the opportunity to disclose abuse (physical, sexual, mental) to us. Finally, we contacted the counselor and DCFS. Lesson Learned: Listen to children, hear what they have to say, and help them become active problem solvers.

In an unbelievable twist of fate, I became an noncertified 6th grade teacher at Octavio Paz Charter School in Chicago, IL.  Challenges at the school included no principal, no library, no computer lab, and not enough textbooks.  I was petrified.  Most of the students were at least one to two levels below their grade and a lot of them have been kicked out of other schools due to behavior problems.  As a result of my difficult situation, I became exceptional at classroom management LESSON LEARNED: It is crucial to constantly be aware and improve my teaching style/technique so I can become the kind of teacher I strive to be!

WHAT WILL I DO TO BE AN EXCELLENT TEACHER?