E is for Elementary Education...

E is for Elementary Education!


Ever since the time I was little I have always wanted to be a teacher. I remember doing some sort of assignment in my first grade class where we had to draw a picture of us when we were grown-up. I remember thinking that my teacher Mrs. Soderburg was pretty much the coolest teacher ever so maybe I wanted to be a teacher too. I remember drawing a picture of myself as a teacher. One of the most common questions a kid gets asked is "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Pretty much all through elementary school I never changed my mind; I wanted to be a school teacher. Usually I wanted to teach whatever grade I was in at the time. The Christmas I was in 3rd grade I asked Santa for a white board for my room so that I could play school. I used to bring my text books home from school with me even if I didn't have homework. I needed them to teach my pretend class every night. My mom used to have this old karaoke machine. I loved it because it had a working microphone. We had a mantle on the bottom of the fire place in the living room that made the perfect stage. I would use the microphone and pretend that I was the principal conducting an assembly. My mom gave me a whistle once that looked exactly like the ones the teachers used at the school when they were on playground duty. I used to use it to pretend like I was on playground duty in my back yard. As I got older I started to think about different options for my career. In middle school they started giving us these aptitude tests. Mine always told me that I should be a teacher or a social worker or nurse. I started to think about all those other options. When it came time for me to put my schedule together for my Senior year I had a ton of extra elective credits. So I decided to take the Medical Assisting class at the tech center. I loved it! Naturally the majority of the students of the class wanted to move on to become nurses or doctors. I decided that I should probably do nursing. It made the most sense at the time. The thing I hated about telling people that I wanted to be a teacher is that inevitably they would make some comment about how little teachers made. I sort of had this in my head when I started thinking about college classes. My first 3 semesters of school I took nursing pre-requisites. I didn't really fall in love with nursing. I hated chemistry and biology. I took a break shortly after I got married. The break lasted 5 years...way too long! When I first started looking into going back to school I weighed all my options. I just didn't want to do nursing. I love what I do now, it's just not what I want to do for the rest of my life! But teaching, I love teaching! It is still a great job for a working mom. My kids can go to work with me and we'll be off on the same days. I am super excited to teach! I want to teach either kindergarten or 1st grade. I love those little munchkins. I have had the opportunity to teach the 6 and 7 year olds at church this year and I have loved them. It is such an awesome age. Plus I love to read. I think that there are too many kids these days that don't enjoy reading; in fact they hate it! I want to teach kids at a young age not only how to read but how to love to read and write. I have about 2 years left. I was looking at my school schedule the other day and I will start my student teaching in August 2012 which will be Joseph's first year of school. He'll be off to Kindergarten and so will I. I am so excited to be a teacher. I feel like it is a job made for me. I love to be bossy and in charge. I love to read. I love kids. I love to write. Bottom-line: I was born to teach! Hooray for this double E that won't make me a millionaire but will leave me feeling fulfilled everyday!

Song: Jackson 5 ABC...123

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