This week, the prompt for #youredustory is “What was the defining moment you decided to be a teacher?”
Honestly, I think I was born that way. It just took me a long time to figure it out.
I remember being in fourth grade when a new girl came into our class. Her name was Karin and she didn’t speak much English. We didn’t have any ELD classes back then (or, if we did, I wasn’t aware of them). Anyway, I was a very good reader and writer, as well as an early finisher, so the teacher asked me to help Karin with her English. We had a few simple books and we would go sit in the cloakroom together. She would read aloud and I would help her when she didn’t know how to pronounce a word or what it meant. Her joy and excitement as her understanding and mastery of English grew was contagious. I was hooked.
As I went through junior high, high school, and even college, I continued helping my classmates when they were struggling. I loved witnessing those “lightbulb moments” when a concept suddenly became clear, but I never really thought about being a teacher. Then I went to Italy on a study abroad program and when my year was up, in a fit of impulsivity, I decided to move there. The only job I could get was in a small private language school, teaching English to businesspeople and high school students. It was wonderful.
When I came back to the U.S., I got married and became a stay-at-home mom. Yes, I was my daughters’ first teacher, but I missed having my own class. When my girls started school, I volunteered in their classrooms so much I am sure their teachers were sick of me, even though they were gracious enough not to say so. I took a job as an instructional assistant in the school district. It was good, but I wanted more. Finally, my own lightbulb came on. I needed to go back to school, get my credential, and become a teacher. So I did. And I still love those lightbulbs.
This reminded of something a friend asked me yesterday, “do you wish you became a teacher sooner?”.
I had a think about it and said “no, I think everything has happened for a reason and I think becoming a teacher in my 30’s was what was meant to happen; I am more patient, wise and grateful than I would have been 15 years ago”.
Do you feel somewhat similar after becoming a teacher after being married and having kids?
I really enjoyed your post Nancy.
Dan, I’m glad you liked my post, and I feel the same as you. Becoming a teacher after having kids meant that I was better equipped to deal with all those other things that happen in the classroom outside the instructional piece than I would have been otherwise. In fact, I student taught in kindergarten and my support provider teacher told me that I was one of the best student teachers she had ever had, and she thought it had a lot to do with the fact that I wasn’t a young adult just out of college. She said that she believed the fact that I was a mom gave me a greater understanding of how young children think, feel, and act, and that made me a more caring and compassionate teacher. Had I started teaching straight out of college, I doubt that would have been the case.