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Megan Vaughn
Dr. Fiegen
March 9, 2014
Why I Want To Be a Teacher
Teaching can be the most rewarding and the most frustrating career in the
same breath, but that is a challenge that I am willing to take. Watching the reaction
of children when they find the correct answer is one reason that has inspired me to
be a teacher. The children light up when the answer pops into their mind after
struggling to find the correct answer. This makes me realize how much I want to be
a teacher. Children may sometimes be a challenge to work with, but when you
break through the difficulty and get to success, the rewards are countless. As a
teacher, I am a role model in the classroom and outside the classroom. This is so
important because any time your students see you outside of the classroom they
are still seeing you as a teacher. I want to inspire children wherever they see me
and make a difference in their lives. A special smile from a child when I have made
a difference to that child is what drives me to be a teacher. Working with children is
also fun. Making time for fun in the classroom with the children will help you enjoy
life so much. They can completely change someones day just because of a little
educational fun.
My biggest inspiration to be a teacher is my mom. I have watched my mom
teach since kindergarten and I love it. When I was younger, I always said I wanted
to be a teacher like my mommy, but no one thought I would stick to it. Now
thirteen years later, I am finally pursuing that dream. In fifth grade, my mom was
my teacher. I loved watching her help students in the classroom and just thinking
that I want to be a teacher someday. She made class fun, but also had control of
the classroom. When I started high school, every chance I would get I would go

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down to my mothers special education classroom and work with her kids. During
senior year, I volunteered in her classroom and other elementary classrooms for one
hour each day. I loved working with the children, especially right beside my mom.
My philosophy of education comes from several different philosophies. I think
that while all philosophies may have one or two good points, I predominantly agree
with essentialism and behaviorism. The philosophy of essentialism encourages
embracing the childrens heritage. Incorporating parts of each childs cultural
heritage in the classroom is essential to make each child feel special. No one
should try to hide his/her heritage. They should embrace their heritage and learn
more about it. Learning is not only what children are doing for homework, it is also
about who they are learning to become. In addition, a teacher is a role model with
everything they do. As a teacher, it is not just what is put on the white board, but it
is also teaching the children by the behavior shown to them by the instructor.
Teachers are in charge of discipline. I will not let the children rule the classroom. I
will let the class make the rules at the beginning of the year with my guidance.
Giving students some ownership in making rules makes it easier to carry them out.
If students do not follow the rules, they will need to have a consequence.
Intellectual discipline, in my opinion, is constructive as the children are learning a
lesson as well as other concepts. To me a busy classroom is a learning classroom.
If children are sitting the majority of the day in lecture, they are going to lose focus.
Completely eluding lectures from teaching is not feasible, but letting children have a
little time to do something educationally fun is vital. That does not mean that the
classroom will be a madhouse but an educationally fun place to learn. I want
children to share ideas with each other and respect each others opinion. I do not
want the children to think they are free to roam the room whenever they want. I

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want them to get their work done. I feel there are times when children should be
allowed to get up and move around to give them time to become refocused. I do
encourage group work periodically. I want the class to work together and share
ideas in order to allow them to learn from different perspectives.
Frequently I will have the children seated in rows, which is a part of the
behaviorism philosophy. It is easier for all of the students to see the front of the
classroom when they are in rows. At times, I will move the desks into pods for
group activities and leave the desks that way as long as the children continue to
work in a productive manner. I feel that having the desks in groups or pods is a
privilege that can be lost. If the children have their attention on me while I am
talking, I am fine with having a special seating arrangement. I would monitor group
projects and hands-on assignments in the pods.
I believe that students should be respectful of me. I do want the classroom
to be a fun place. Consequently, if the children are not behaving, they are not
learning which means I am not doing my job. As a motivator, I do believe in positive
reinforcement. This positive reinforcement may be the only positivity they receive.
If a student who often misbehaves begins to work hard even for a few days, I will
reward him/her in order to help him/her to understand that it is rewarding to have
positive behavior. I do think it is a hard balance though, because there are children
who behave all the time and they deserve a reward, too. It is challenging to figure
out where to draw the line. I want children to understand that there are rewards for
respectable behavior. The reward does not need to be a tangible reward. The
reward may be a good feeling inside the child. Overall, my philosophy varies, but I
believe I will be the best teacher by combining parts of different philosophies.

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Ever since kindergarten I have been excited to become a teacher and that
journey is finally here. Teaching is my passion and I enjoy every second I am in the
classroom, even the more frustrating days.
The joy on the childrens face is all I need to remind myself that teaching is what I
am meant to do.