My Best Friends are Third Graders

Ever since I was the ripe age of 6, I was addicted to playing teacher. I couldn't get enough! I had four students and they were the same students I used every time I played school. My family used to have this room in our house called the "classroom." This was only a craft room, but to me it was my classroom! I used to beg my sister, mom, grandparents, and my friends when they would come over to play school with me. Because of my whole childhood consisting of teaching, grading fake papers, and giving fake presentations, I was set on being a school teacher. But is that the same case now?

The want to teach has worn off for me right now. Pretty sad isn't it? Well, in my second semester of 9th grade, I started the Teaching as a Profession pathway. This regained my love for teaching others a little bit! I think the question to ask now is, "I love teaching and being in a leadership position, but do I really want to be doing it in a classroom?" I really enjoy this pathway because I have learned so many things beyond teaching that I could ever dream about learning. I think my past love for wanting to be a teacher led to a love of psychology. I cannot stress enough how much I love studying people and learning about human behavior. In the second class of the pathway, Contemporary Issues in Education, I learned the realities of a student who doesn't have the best at home environment. This really made me dig deep into my ability to empathize. Considering these things, I think I enjoy the psychology aspect of teaching more than the actual action of teaching students in a stuffy classroom.

Now that I am in the third class of the Teaching as a Profession pathway, every other day I go to the elementary school and intern in a 3rd grade classroom. I love those kids so much. They have so much love for school and their classmates. I have learned so much in this class. I've had to put myself in their shoes and acknowledge how they might retain knowledge different from others. There are two students that I've kept my eye on so far in this journey and I can tell they don't learn as easy as the others. A little over two weeks ago, I got the opportunity to help one of those students with their writing activity. We spent a while forming sentences and figuring out the right vocabulary to use. When it came to the end of her writing, she was so excited and said, "This is the first writing I've ever finished!" I beamed at the fact that this was with me and how proud of herself she was. I still have so much left of this journey to go, and I cannot wait for the experiences that await my arrival.

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