Why Teach?

Something to know about me is that I never went to kindergarten. I was terrified because my teacher was scary, the school atmosphere was overwhelming, and I didn’t know most of the students. After crying for most of my first day of kindergarten, my mother decided to just wait a year and I will go back to school in grade 1. When that finally came, I wasn’t as scared and did really well and began to love going to school. I had a new teacher, lots of friends, and loved the learning environment in my classroom. A love for school grew from there, but it wasn’t until my grade 7 year that I was truly inspired to become a teacher. My elementary school was extremely small, there were 3 classrooms, a kindergarten class, a primary class with grades 1-3, and an intermediate class with grades 4-7. Teaching in those classrooms would have been a challenge because there were kids in all different grades, at all different levels and the teacher would have had to meet the needs of those students. I always found that most of the teachers never understood how to compensate for having more than one grade in the classroom, until I was in grade 7. My grade 7 teacher, Mrs. Mac, was such an inspiration to me and such a lovely person all around. She had a passion for teaching and that was completely visible in the classroom. I noticed that she was able to direct the classroom in a positive way and attend to each grade that was in my class. Mrs. Mac had really good energy and never made anyone feel bad or dumb for asking questions or being lost in the lesson. She encouraged questions, had positive relationships with the students, and understood that each of us were unique and have different learning styles. I remember coming home from school and wanting to play games with my sister, we usually played a game that we made up called ‘school’. We would set up a table to act as a desk, and I would be the teacher. I loved to tell my little sister what to do and make up assignments for her to complete. I think that a passion grew for me to become a teacher during my elementary school years and definitely flourished while having Mrs. Mac as a teacher. I am inspired to be like her one day in my own classroom, someone who can influence students when they are young is someone they will always remember. I believe that students need a teacher who understands and respects the diversity of the classroom and recognizes that each student is different and should be taught in a way that will benefit that individual. I feel grateful for having such an inspiring role model, and hope that one day I can do the same for one of my students.