Running head: WHAT KIND OF TEACHER WILL I BE?

What Kind of Teacher Will I Be?

Allison Gerlach

Raritan Valley Community College

Professor Kimberly Schirner

September 11, 2018

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What Kind of Teacher Will I Be?

I believe that everyone has a calling. Whether it is a hobby, a dream or a career, we all

have something that we are meant to do in life. My calling is to become a teacher. I can

remember days playing school with my sister in our very own little school house that my

Grandfather built for me in our backyard. I always knew that education was where my heart

belonged but it was not until high school that I really considered the type of teacher I would be. I

learned that a great teacher will show all of their students equal appreciation, teach creatively

even when they are not teaching the most exciting topics, and teach passionately to make all their

students feel at home in their classroom.

My high school choir was a place where there was a sense of community. Everyone

supported one another and there was a collective love of music that brought us all together no

matter where we fit in outside of that classroom. My senior year, however, that all changed when

we received a new Choir Director. He was very talented as a musician, but as a teacher, he was

very biased. He had certain favorite students that he would select for activities and he never gave

anyone else an opportunity to shine. This created envy in our little community and I, who was

not one of the lucky favorites, saw how unfair this teaching style was. I realized then that I never

wanted any of my students to feel unappreciated or uncared for in my classroom. All students

deserve to feel heard and welcomed by their peers and teachers.

My senior year in English class, I had a very creative teacher who really enjoyed music

and art. He would integrate music into just about every class we had and assigned creative

projects that tied into the books we were reading. This gave our class an opportunity to take the

ideas from literature and connect them to different forms of art. The freedom that he gave us on

projects was also something that inspired me. He would allow us to choose our topics and the
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way that we wanted to present the information we learned. When you give your students that

freedom to do what they are interested in, you often get amazing results that are so much more

dynamic than just a boring paper or answers on a test. I know personally, the things I learned in

that class have stayed with me because I was actively engaged in the lesson and it made the

information personal. Each learner has a different style of learning and being creative and

flexible is beneficial to all students.

The most inspiring experience I had was student teaching in the BRHS Preschool. The

director of the preschool was as passionate about teaching as she was kind. She would show such

care for all her students and she made sure to help everyone, high school student teachers

included. She would do everything in her power for her kids if it meant they would have a better

experience in or out of the classroom. No matter what was going on in her own life, she could

flip the switch and be there for her students. With any challenge that the preschoolers threw at

her, she would turn it into a teaching moment which was truly amazing. I admire her kindness

and skill as a teacher so much. I strive to make such a warm home in my own classroom and to

foster a love of learning just like her.

Anyone can build a house with the right instructions. Anyone can finish a series of math

problems with the correct methods. Anyone can cook well with the right recipe. But, it takes a

special person to be a teacher. Some may say that it is an easy job or that it is unimportant but to

make all their students feel loved, smart, capable, and welcome is not something everyone can

do. I hope that I can be the right amount of warmth, creativity and courage to inspire my students

to be the best learners and people they can be.