Student Teaching Preparation

Hey Guys and Gals!

I've been applying for student teaching these past few weeks and I thought I'd get a few opinions on my bio that I have to write.  This is the bio that will be submitted to all potential schools, so feel free to be brutally honest!

I attended public schools in several states and was able to see for myself the difference between teachers and education systems.  In these schools, I became an avid reader and developed an even greater love for math.  I was able to study video technology in my middle school and pottery in high school.  I was exposed to so many more areas than I had even known existed.  Just having so many options thrilled me and propelled me to school each day with a desire to learn something new. 

When I was in high school, I was again provided with a significant chance of growth through a program called Running Start.   This allowed me to attend a community college for my junior and senior years.  By the time I graduated in 2011, I had my Associate’s in Arts degree as well as my high school diploma.  When I transferred to Brigham Young University-Idaho, I tried following what I was good at- chemistry -but I was forced to reconsider when I was no longer happy and excited to attend my classes.

I reevaluated what I wanted out of life and what I actually enjoyed; I realized that teaching was the only option for me.  I love learning, and I want to instill that love into my students.  Many of my peers throughout my school experience would share with me how much they hated a certain subject, and they were less than enthused about the prospect of a daily school schedule.  It was an effort to get them to attend their classes.

I believe this is not a problem with the student, but rather the teachers and education system.  I cannot change any of those, but what I can do is put one more excited teacher out there.  That’s me.  My goal as an elementary school teacher is to get to students when they are young and show them exactly why they should be excited about learning. 

Obviously as a teacher there are certain requirements for the state that your students need to learn, however I want to use this as a starting point instead of an end goal.  My classroom will be a place of exploration and growth for my students where the sky is the limit; for me, anything less than that is a detriment to our students and their potential. 

My classroom will have stations of learning and studying that touches on each of my students’ learning style.  I want them to be in a low stress environment so that they will have a safe place to learn.  In my ideal classroom I would have a space to exemplify each of Gardner’s multiple intelligences, if simply for my students to have the chance to understand that there are many options of learning besides studying the “textbook” way that has become the norm in schools nowadays. 

Overall, my goal as an educator is to make my students’ learning experience as exciting and new to them as it was for me growing up.  To do this I will provide a safe and loving environment for my students to learn while simultaneously pushing them to do the absolute best that they can.  The lower expectations of the world are not going to work in my classroom if I want my students to be as successful in their lives as I know they can be. 

Let me know what you think!