Teaching is full of infinite possibilities.  I think that teaching is doing magic; it is acting; it is being enthusiastic about even the subjects that we are not as confident in teaching.  Teaching is to “touch a life forever.”  Teaching is giving of yourself daily and requires one to have a desire to help others no matter what happens.  It requires giving each student a fresh start each day.  It is about forgiving, about trying, about making mistakes, and about risk-taking.  Teaching is having a desire to help thirty young minds be the best that they can be by encouraging them in all areas of their lives.
        Being a teacher means seeing the best in every child.  I am a firm believer in Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences and I believe that it is my job as a teacher to discover each of my student’s strengths.  I think that it is my job as a teacher to remember the individuality of each of my children.  It is my job to encourage their individuality as a member of our community of learners.  I hope that I never forget to see the individuality of every child.  I believe that being talented in music is just as special as being talented in math and I think that it is important for students to realize how special and unique they are in the world around them.  I think that it is our job as teachers to encourage students to explore their likes and dislikes, their strengths and their weaknesses, and in doing so each student will learn more about themselves while also learning about life in general.  I believe that we are all wonderfully different and I want to encourage an appreciation for diversity in my classroom.  When I was a high school student living in Hawaii I was made fun of daily, many times in the middle of AP English, for my skin color, my beliefs, and my red hair.  My teacher heard the other student’s ridicule and make fun of me but said nothing.  I want to be the teacher who says something.  I want to have a classroom that is the type of place where students do not have to be afraid to share their opinions and beliefs.  I want to establish a classroom environment in which students are not ashamed to have a different skin color.  I want to have a community of learners and at atmosphere where it is not a bad thing if your parents cannot afford to buy you name brand clothes.  I want to touch the hearts of my children.
        I believe that teaching is “touching a life forever.”  I think that teaching is touching the human heart.  It is more than knowing multiplication tables, the fifty states, and when we first landed on the moon.  Teaching is about helping children want to be better students, better friends, better brothers and sisters, better individuals.  As a teacher I want to encourage my students to have a desire to help others, to see how special they are, and to have a desire and a thirst for knowledge.
 I think that it is my job as a teacher to see the positive things in every child.  I want to be the type of teacher who includes everyone.  The type of teacher who shows love to even those who seem to not deserve it because I believe that it is the child who seems to deserve love the least who truly needs it the most.  I do not want to be the teacher who forgets about the shy child.  I was once the shy child and was often forgotten.  I want to be the type of teacher who forgives, who loves, and who encourages.
        I believe that teaching is truly “touching a life forever.”  I believe that as teachers we can either touch the lives of our students in positive ways or in negative ways.  I want to touch the lives of my students in positive ways, ways that help my children desire to be better people.  I believe that God has given us each this one life here on Earth and I cannot think of anything better than to be a teacher.  Teaching will give me the opportunity to share the love of Christ daily through the way that I treat my children and those around me.  Teaching will give me the chance to touch a life, to touch the heart of a young child, and that is the most important thing in life.