don't know what's down this road, i'm just walking trying to see through the rain coming down.

For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to be a teacher. I never particularly loved school. There was not one thing or person or experience that made me realize what I was meant to do. It was innate, just there. When I was younger, it was not my main priority to get A's. I've always just been very good at writing. I remember loving books when I was really little, I wanted to be the characters in the books that I loved. But I liked reading on my own terms. I could sort of do nothing and still get B's so I didn't care very much, I was intelligent in my own way. I think that a lot of children are like that. They have their own set of standards from a very young age. 

I like to set little goals, in order to achieve a large goal of mine, which is to make an impact some how, in some way. Right now, I have a potential little goal, just a simple idea. When I came back from one of the read alouds i remembered how much I loved when people came into school and read or played games with me, it was the highlight of my day. So, i thought about how effective it would be to go into  schools and play learning games with the kids. Get them out of their desks and without a boring notebook for 20 minutes and excite them. It might be silly, and never turn into anything but it's an idea. Imagine if everyday, once a day for twenty minutes, every student in the country had fun, engaged, inspired, creative, educational fun. 

The focus on facts and and knowing the 50 required things assigned for the year is where childhood gets very very lost. I think that children are the most creative and imaginative people this world has. That simple, very unique aspect of their little being is so forgotten. School for the most part is where kids are shaped. It is where they gain most of their experiences and where they become individuals. A teachers role in that "becoming"  is larger than most would assume and harder, as well. 

Since college began, I've worked with children in the Bridgeport area a handful of times, and my involvement in read alouds is becoming more and more reoccurring. The teachers in the schools I have been to, reinforce every reason why I want to be a teacher. They do not care. To them, their job is a job. 

Every time I do a read aloud, I make a point to go around the classroom and ask each and every child what they want to be when they grow up. They can be princesses or rockstars, it doesnt matter, I just want to spark their imagination. In my first class, one of the kids asked me what I wanted to be and i said "a teacher" and immediately the teacher of the class said right out loud "dont do it". I was shocked. Especially in the situations these children live in, they need to be valued. They need to know someone cares about who they are and where they are going. One of the kids in the class then said "I'm her favorite student" sarcastically and she replied with "Exactly, dont do it". I was heartbroken. 

I think that education is vital however I think the balance between education, understanding, creativity and fun is even more important. When I did Navigating Leadership, we had children from a school come and the focus of the event was to organize a "fun, educational game". We played a game that involved letters and sentences which was incorporated into a relay race. The kids were so determined to win, they forgot they were learning. To me, thats when I think children learn the most, when they dont even know it. They are the most inspired when they are having fun. They trust you more when they know you understand.  This is where I came up with my idea seeing first hand how the children responded. 

 I want to be the teacher that kids come back to and say, "you believed in me, you understood, you cared". Thats where I want to leave an impact, I want to be that one person that changed it for them. I want them to always know someone knew they could, someone wanted them to and someone worked hard to inspire them. I hadn't realized how passionate I was about this until I realized how few people saw it this way.  I want to give back in so many ways. It's hit me so hard recently how lucky I and how I have the ability to change so many lives. And children, are the most important, they will shape tomorrow. 

If everyone in the world thought back to that person who inspired them, who pushed them to be who they were today and even just took on that responsibility for one child, our world would be drastically different. Anyone who has the potential to do that for someone, had someone do it for them. Whether they recognize that or not, is not the point. Be that one person. 

Top Five...things that make me happy right now

1. Pasta

2.Black Dresses

3. The Flintstone Family

4. Cancelled Class on Friday 

5. Smiling. 

What's yours...

Comments

[Sam]

1. Knights of Columbus
2. Week is almost half over
3. My suit will be ready in less than a week
4. My Friends
5. Fall

[PC]

Top 5 things in my life:
1. Friends that follow bro code
2. Water bottles
3. Long periods of peaceful defocation
4. My blackberry
5. Poker

[PC]

6. The way Anand can suck "A bowling ball through a golf hose"