My Teaching Biography

I have wanted to be a teacher as long as I can remember. I remember the Christmas when I was eight years old when Santa bought me a large chalk board easel, tons of chalk, and a grade book! I was so excited, that I played school for hours on end. After winter break that year, my third grade teacher gave me a couple of textbooks and extra worksheets to play with, it was like Christmas all over again. My youngest brother would play school with me, even though now he claims he was forced into playing. I showed leadership in my youth. To my child eyes, teaching seemed like a perfect job. A teacher got to write on the board, she got attention from the entire class, and—best of all she always got to tell everyone what to do! I could not have thought of any job that could be better than being a teacher.

I entered college in the fall of 1999, convinced that a teaching career was the one for me. Through the first three years of my college experience, I changed my major several times. Going "green" and becoming environmentally aware was a hot topic, so I switched majors to Environmental Science for a semester. For the first time in my life, I considered the fact that teaching might not be the only career that I might enjoy. Then I decided I wanted to transfer schools, I wanted to go to Coastal Carolina University and live at the beach. With that change I toyed with the idea of a major in Marine Science for one semester, but I soon returned to my lifelong dream of teaching. After, this wandering through the vast forest of college majors, I become conscious to my true destined path, of education.

Now I realize that I have never wanted to be anything but a teacher, and I love it as much as I ever hoped I would. I have always wanted to help people, have a love of learning, and a desire to make the world a better place. I think it is these qualities that led me to the classroom. Walking into my classroom every morning brings back that feeling of that special Christmas when I was eight.

    I feel that one of my greatest contributions to education is a genuine love and concern for my students. I try to help each student to realize that he or she is a precious individual, capable of making our world a better place for everyone. I try to make my classes fun and interesting for the students. To help the students grasp the concept of guerilla tactics, one of the reasons Francis Marion was a well known partisan leader, we had a paper ball fight. One side of the room represented the British and the opposite side represented Francis Marion and his militia. The side led by Francis Marion hid in the "swamp" (under desks). We then discussed the two battle tactics and which was more successful. Yes, teachers teach content, and it is exciting when students learn the content and can apply it as well. But learning has a larger outcome; the student has learned something about how it feels to be successful. They have also learned how it feels to be challenged to reach for success, and maybe along the way they have had to learn something about how it feels to fail, as well. Learning from mistakes is just as important as knowing how it feels to succeed. These are the skills that will carry our students into the next level and the skills that will make them lifelong learners. I like to say that I am building a better world one student at a time. I also love the moments when they grasp a concept and then in turn go and teach that concept to another student who is struggling.