Teacher Roots

To understand my teaching philosophy.  We must first understand why I want to be a teacher.  I come from teacher roots; both of my parents work in the education system.  My mother is a speech pathologist in an elementary school.  Even though she is not a classroom teacher, she spends her days working with and helping children, and has inspired me to do the same.  However, my true inspiration comes from my father.

My father taught English at the high school level for a little over 20 years before moving to the library.  His love for books got me reading at a young age.  I too fell in love with stories and the power of the novel.  I devoured anything I could read to explore other worlds and ideas.  The importance of books has never been a mystery to me.  They take us places.  They introduce us to new people and friends, real or not.  They allow us to explore ideas or situations we may never entertain in real life.  My father introduced me to this world, and I was hooked.

He also inspired me as a teacher.  My father taught something he loved, and he helped students develop their abilities.  The work was hard.  I remember him taking papers to grade everywhere: band concerts, recitals, sports events.  Every bit of downtime was filled with papers and a red pen.  Somehow, this image never deterred me from wanting to teach English as well.  I know I will log long hours reading student work and planning lessons, but I honestly look forward to it.  The more I practice, the more I know I belong in the classroom like my father.

I have seen the dark side of education growing up with teachers.  Administration issues, difficult parents, difficult students, I've heard it all.  More importantly, I've heard the blessings.  Teaching children, watching them discover, grow, and progress.  Seeing that light-bulb moment when they finally understand a topic.  This is why they teach.  This is why I will teach.  Teachers hold the ability to change lives and shape future generations.

This is a serious job, and not one for the faint of heart, but I have grown up with amazing literacy sponsors.  My idea of these sponsors comes from Deborah Brandt's article "Sponsors of Literacy."  Brandt describes sponsors as "any agents, local or distant, concrete or abstract, who enable, support, teach, model, as well as recruit, regulate, suppress, or withhold literacy--and gain advantage by it in some way" (334).  I had several literacy sponsors throughout my years: teachers, books, assignments, but my parents were the greatest sponsors of all.  They enabled, supported, modeled, and taught me to love reading, writing, and teaching.  Their only pay off was raising an book loving daughter, capable of gaining knowledge through reading and writing (and thus able to help educate herself).  There is no doubt in my mind that I would not be where I am today without these sponsors.  Their influence will guide me long through my teaching years.