My History in the Profession

When I was young, my favorite activity was playing school.  I constructed my own classroom in my basement with a chalkboard, a teacher desk, and an old fashioned student desk.  After completing my homework, I would retreat to the basement and pretend that I was leading my own class.  In my old, dusty basement, my passion for teaching was born.  Even though I was only in elementary school, my teachers acknowledged my interest, and gave me old teacher manuals, posters, and student books.  The old junk became my treasures.  My interest was important to my teachers, so they fostered my love of school.  All of the teachers were different, but they helped me to develop confidence, courage, and academic skills that helped me succeed in school.  I knew I wanted to be able to help other kids the way they helped me.  

Aside from playing school, I had a passion for reading.  My mom fostered this passion by reading to me, taking me on trips to the library, and spending way too much money at the bookstore.  I was always found with a book in hand.  In addition, my aging neighbor had a collection of children's books.  I would go to her house, select a dozen books, and take them home to read.  Later in the week, I would exchange them for different books.  I had my very own library!  When she passed away, she gave me all of those books.  They are still my treasures. 

As I continued through elementary, middle, and high school, my passion for teaching continued to grow.  I babysat, worked at a daycare, and became a camp counselor.  People continually told me that I was great with kids.  Summer after summer I won the Counselor of the Year Award.   I knew my future profession.  I needed to become a teacher. 

In 1995, I was accepted into the University of Delaware and majored in Elementary and Special Education.  I continued to dream of the day when my dusty basement would be transformed into a classroom of my own.  Every course gave me the teaching tools I needed.  I loved being at UD because I was immersed in classrooms every semester.  I was tutoring as a freshman and teaching as a junior.   I also loved my professors because they were classroom teachers.   They not only taught me research and theory, but they gave me helpful advice from the trenches of teaching.  When I was finally able to become a student teacher, I was placed with a wise supervisor and an amazing cooperating teacher.  They fostered my passion and enabled me to allow my gifts to shine.  I used this time to implement all the ideas I had collected.  It was truly a dream come true.  At the end of student teaching, I won an Outstanding Student Teacher Award.  I was ready. 

In the fall of 1999, my dream came true.  I had my very own classroom!  I'll never forget the day I brought my first box of books into my third grade classroom in Penn London Elementary School.  I was scared to death, but I was ecstatic.   I was finally a teacher.  My first year teaching was the hardest year of my life, but my passion and love of teaching helped me through every rough day.  My passion continues to guide and strengthen me to this day.  

I am now in my sixth year of teaching.  The teaching profession continues to change as the pendulum of education swings from one side to the other.  I have great days and horrible days.  However, I find strength in my university preparation, experience, colleagues, and administrators.    When I walk into my classroom, I remember my childhood days in my dusty basement.   The memory of my first classroom helps me remember that I have the opportunity to ignite passion in all of my students.  I realize that they are the true treasures of my teaching.

Clipart from Discovery School.