I have learned many things in college, one of the most important being the kind of teacher that I want to be.  I want to create a loving and nurturing environment for my students in which they learn how to think outside the box.
      One of my main goals that I will strive to achieve as a teacher is to create a classroom in which students feel loved and comfortable.   Students will come into my classroom from many different backgrounds and families.  The first day they walk in my door, some of them may have never been hugged before.  I want my classroom to be a place in which each and every child knows that someone loves them:  me.  I want my students to feel pride and ownership in their class.  They will help me create the rules, help with the discipline, and help hold each other as well as me, accountable to those rules.  I want my students to feel comfortable enough with each other that they will speak out in class and know that disagreement is fine, if handled correctly.
    “Children are apt to live up to what you believe of them.”  No matter what their attitudes when they walk in, when my students walk out of my class, they will have pride in themselves.  I will nurture students and help them understand that they each have a future which rests in their hands.  They will know that I believe in them.  So many people in education tend to put their students down or tell them they aren’t working hard enough.  I want my classroom to be place where my students strive to do their best for themselves, not for me or anyone else.  My room will be posted with work from every student so they can feel proud of their own work.  We will do things to foster good self-esteem so they know they have a chance.   I will use many different mediums of teaching, therefore my students can find something that they are passionate about which will help them learn throughout life.  I will not stifle a child’s creativity.  I will teach my students that they must take responsibility in their own actions.  I will encourage them to be models for other children who are looking up to them, even if they don’t know it.
     My children will think “outside the box.”  We will do many kids of exercises and fun activities in which the children will learn critical thinking skills.   We will do things, such as Wuzzles or Puzzlers, which cause the children to look at things much differently.  Then we will learn how to apply them to real life.  Hopefully, these skills will be exercised enough that the children will carry them throughout their life.  Through our diversity and learning, we will all learn how to think differently and use what we learn to solve problems in life.
     I believe that every child should be given a fair chance.  Sometimes they need more than one or two chances.  Everyday, when a child walks in my door, he or she will be starting over in a sense.  If a child misbehaved yesterday, I will do my best not to hold it against that child today.  I have seen many teachers jump at children for tiny things simply because of that child’s misbehavior in the past.  If he or she is never given a new start, how are they supposed to act?  They deserve a new chance, just as I do if I mess up one day.  Everyone has bad days, and those should be written off.
     Beyond a shadow of a doubt, I will try to love my students as if they are my kids.  They will know that I am proud of them.  In the same respect, they will know when I am disappointed in them.  They will have the understanding that they can be anything if they try.  They will know that I believe in them and will always be there, backing them up.  As a teacher, I will have many jobs other than teaching curriculum.  I will take all of these jobs on to the best of my ability in order to make my classroom a great learning environment and safe haven for all of us.  I am ready for the challenge!