Mrs. Walters had just finished another grueling lesson of negative integers that had bored everyone’s eyeballs from their sockets. As she muttered on about using math in life, one of the students asked her if she enjoyed teaching this. Her response will forever be burned into my brain. “Doing what you enjoy is a rarity in the work field. No one likes middle schoolers, and no one would ever choose to teach them.”
As I sat in the metal combo desk, two thoughts smacked me upside the head. First, I thought I was a pretty cool person. Middle schooler or not, I knew I was much more than this teacher gave me credit. Second, challenge accepted. Not only was I going to get into the field of education, I would teach junior high age kids and show others there was a right and a wrong way to teach a child.
My story started right here, in the small classroom with eighteen desks, a broken wooden bookcase, and one window that looked out onto a skinny maple tree. My story is continuously filling with new chapters as I grow as an educator who investigates new methods for my students. My story flourished from a strong-willed teenager proving a point, to the innovative educator authoring this blog. My ever unfolding story continues right now…
