“Teachers change the world, one day, one lesson, one student at a time.” Anonymous

Teaching has been a life long dream that encompasses my entire being.  I see myself helping not only children learn and succeed but helping my peers and colleagues with ideas and strategies, while creating relationships that are rewarding for both me and my students, friends, and colleagues.  My goal is to create a positive learning environment for my students where literacy flourishes.  I want to empower the diverse array of students in my class to function competently as literate and concerned citizens in the twenty-first century.  I believe in teaching the reading and writing processes not only to fulfill the curriculum, but for students to be able to use them as learning tools in their future.  The classroom needs to be a community of learners and support an attitude of life long learning.  As a teacher, I must remember that students are not only at school to learn about the curriculum, but they also need guidance, love, and security.  To do this I will provide structure, procedures, and routines that encourage students to be cooperative, responsible, and respectful of classmates.  I will also use a variety of teaching strategies that will accommodate different learning styles, therefore, meeting the different needs of individuals and develop a positive atmosphere.

School is a multicultural place that helps students build skills, participate in experiences, that all prepare them for the world outside those doors.  I believe that teachers should offer students opportunities to be a part of the outside world, do things that help others in their community, build relationships with people in the community and across their state, nation, and world.  These experiences and relationships are priceless.  The students learn from “doing.”  I want my students to be self-disciplined and have self-confidence to be able to apply the knowledge they gain in the classroom to the world outside.  I want them to accept everyone as a human being, not classify him or her by race, religion, color, or creed.  The only way to accomplish this goal is to begin giving them responsibilities in the classroom and allowing them to work with one another, as well as, communicating with other students from a variety of places on Earth.
 

Teaching is not only a job and career, and it’s not about money__it’s about the children, the next generation, their future, their well-being, their capacity, and guiding them to fulfill that capacity so that they can lead a full and happy life.