Being from a small town in Saskatchewan, I feel as though many things throughout my life influenced and pushed me towards wanting to be a teacher. I will first say that all my teachers throughout our small high school have always pushed me to be better and to try to help others if I can. Even though I was influenced greatly by my surrounding teachers and friends, I would also say there were two bigger aspects of my life that pushed me to pick my future career path. Being from my small town I played many sports as well as coached many sports. These experiences and the people I was exposed here really shaped me into the person and the future teacher I plan to be someday. One other big aspect that has helped me build my future as a teacher is that of teaching swimming lessons throughout my life. These combinations of aspects working together have groomed me into a fairly good future teacher!
I will begin with talking about my experiences in teaching swimming lessons throughout my life. I started teaching swimming lessons about 5 years ago and at that point the only reason I really wanted to do it is because I was going to get more hours and more money at my job at the local pool. After doing this for a few years now, I now realize I was doing that for all the all reasons. I now keep doing this because I enjoy teaching both young kids on the basics of swimming, but I also really enjoy teaching older kids the basics in order to be an actual lifeguard and how to possibly save someone’s life. It feels really good for me to pass on knowledge that some people will likely use for a better part of their life. I love taking part in teaching swimming lessons that this year I actually feel like I will be taking it one step further. I plan to take the courses necessary in order to teach future swimming teachers (If that makes sense) and that is something I’m very excited for! One quote that my passed grandpa told is something I never forget and that I bring with me every day I come to school is this “If we are able to pass on knowledge and to teach the youth of the future, we have a moral obligation to do those things!”. That quote pushed me to become a lifeguard, then a swimming instructor and now has taken me down the path that I am currently on!
To conclude, in a short version of this autobiographical paper I would say that me growing up in a small town has molded me into someone who may have learned and is different than someone who grew up in a city. Not only did my experiences in my local schools teach me new ways to be a powerful teacher but my experiences in other aspects such as different jobs and playing sports also gave me strong ideas to use in my future classrooms. I actually wanted to try to find an example of a teacher or coach had negatively impacted me, but I find that is hard in a small town where everyone knows everyone. Overall, I will say that I learned many fascinating and new teaching routines throughout my life and I’m really excited to use them and see them into effect in the future!
“I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think” Socrates