Excerpts from my Autobiographical Paper

I have a very large extended family on my father’s side. Within this family I have many younger step-cousins. I’ve had numerous different opportunities to help these younger children grow and learn. The memory that sticks out the most to me however, is helping my cousin Jenna learn the alphabet and spelling her first words. We spent many weeks together in the summer at our Baba’s house so I had plenty of time to do this. She was only just going into kindergarten, but I wanted to ensure she was very prepared. I remember the absolute joy we both felt when she finally could spell those two three letter words, cat and dog, all on her own. The pride I felt at helping prepare her for her first year of school was indescribable.

            This memory also involves a lot of pride. Through my high school years of grade seven to grade 12, I helped my dance teachers teach a group of students’ jazz and ballet dance. As I was a dancer since the age of four, I couldn’t wait to spread the skill and love of dance to these young dancers. I started off with their first year ever of dance and have taught them every year for six years. Getting to teach these girls new dance moves and watch them progress in their skills was the most rewarding experience. The pride you feel towards your students at every accomplishment they make is immense because you know just how hard they worked to get there. I can’t wait to be a teacher to see my student’s journeys through learning.

            A smaller event in my childhood that also contributed to my love of teaching was playing at my grandmas. One of my favourite things to do at grandmas was to pretend to be a teacher. I would set up all my stuffed animals in spots around me and we’d go through different subjects. I always followed the routine of a book my grandma had about the first day of school. When school was over, I even made my brother come pretend to be a parent coming to pick up the kids.

            One thing that was very influential in my teaching beliefs was growing up in a small town. The closeness of families in small communities is something I cherish. I hope that when I finish university, I can become a teacher in a small town. I really would love to be in a school where I know every student and many of their families, as I feel that it creates an even closer bond between teaching staff and their students. Seeing my former teachers now and talking to them always makes me so happy and I love all the little memories they have of me as a student.

            Many of the ways I plan to teach and beliefs I have about becoming a teacher come from my past high school teachers. Some are good things I want to portray like they did and some are bad things that I want to avoid. From my shop teacher I learned that there is a balance between having a good sense of humour and being strict and keeping order in the classroom. When he was my social teacher in grade ten, I also learned that having discussions and talking to students in an easy to understand way can be a lot more beneficial for some students then just copying notes. From my grade eight English teacher I learned that having a passion for the subject and topics you’re teaching about will help your students be passionate in the work they do. He also taught me the importance of having different options for students to read, write or research about. Having these options make tasks feel less like a chore and more exciting. From my grade eleven and twelve history teacher I picked up the skill of how being organized and giving clear instructions helps classes go more smoothly and prevents your student’s confusion. Through some not so helpful teacher’s I’ve also gained knowledge on the importance of being prepared for the material you’re going to teach and to never make a student feel inferior or stupid.