Elementary Education
College Park Scholars-Science and Global Change Program


Catching the sunset after a nice meal with a friend.

Email: zroros@terpmail.umd.edu

To be a teacher is to be a student of your students. This sentence always comes to my mind when I imagine how I will be in the classroom. Over the course of my life, I have always been another mother figure to my younger cousins, primarily at family events since I am much older than them. I occupied them with fun games to play and stories to tell them, even when I, myself, was in elementary school. It is a part of who I am to nurture others. Being a teacher is not only helping your students meet all the common core standards for their grade level, but also making sure they thrive in every way possible, and most importantly feel cared for and loved. Coming from a very dysfunctional family, my outlet of happiness was my grandmother. She spent the time to do all sorts of fun crafts with me and my sisters, such as building a bird house for the birds in her neighborhood to rest on and have a snack. Not every kid has the luxury of having someone in their lives who brings them pure joy every time you see them. It is the kind of joy that when you see their car outside of your house you start running as fast as you can to go inside and see that person. For some kids, that moment could be seeing their teacher in their classroom every day. I strive to provide happiness to every group of kids I teach. At the end of the day, children live a harder life than adults may think, and it is important to make sure we listen and attend to their needs. Part of bringing that pure joy I had with my grandmother to the classroom is truly getting to know my students. Ask them about their favorite hobbies, observe what their strengths in the classroom are, and most importantly encourage them to be the best version of themselves. I would like to say that I had a teacher in elementary school that made me so incredibly happy to see them each day, but I cannot. My teachers were kind and smart, but when it came to protecting me and looking out for me, they were lacking severely. I was bullied from 3rd-5th grade and one of the only things I could remember is feeling like my teachers did not seem to care that I was getting picked on. All I really wanted was to feel like my teacher cared enough about me, that it was not all superficial. Having lived through these experiences, I strive to be not only a teacher but a protector of my students. I know I have a long journey ahead of me still before I may become a teacher. One aspect I hope to gain more knowledge on is coming up with lesson plans and trying to find my voice as a teacher. I personally struggle with confrontation but maintaining order in the classroom will require that most likely with a student from time to time. As I hopefully immerse myself more in the classroom setting, I hope to be able to hold a stronger front and let the kids know respectfully when they are doing something they should not be. I had never worked on lesson planning prior to this school year, so I am definitely still learning how to better each future lesson, but my classes are helping accelerate this process profusely. To be a good teacher I need to be able to admit when I could have taught the lesson better and to make sure I ask for feedback from my students to see what improvements should be made. Doing so will not only show students that I make mistakes too but will help them learn to not be so hard on themselves when they make a mistake as well.


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