"Abby, why did you want to become a teacher?"

Today I was asked, "Abby, why did you want to become a teacher?" I get asked this by a lot of people who hear that I am majoring in Elementary Education, and I wish I could tell the story to them in depth, but there usually is not enough time. A lot went into my decision to become a teacher and I am thankful for all of those events.

I have always been a really big family person. I love spending time with my family. Every Saturday night we would get some candy, sit on the sofa, and watch X-Factor and Doctor Who together, every Sunday we would wake up and go to church together. I loved all of my family and knew I could always rely on them. I was the second oldest but the eldest girl out of my siblings and so I really enjoyed helping my mum. I would walk my sister around the block to put her to sleep, I would grate cheese every night, I would make a cup of tea every time she needed one, and I used to help her when she looked after other children. My mum would sometimes look after people's children if they needed a break or a night out, just like we would go to her friends' houses when they went out for a night. One certain time my mum was looking after a little boy called Daniel. His mum was having a rough time because of some disabilities and behavior problems he was having, so we offered to have him for a while. He came over and I loved looking after him. He knew me from church and so he really opened up to me.

We took him to an appointment and while we were in the waiting room he was misbehaving, so my mum asked me to distract him. I was able to do this and I taught him some skills from books and the toys they had laid out. When the doctor came to get him, he was very engaged with me and not responsive to the doctor (he saw the doctor regularly and did not like him), but when I told him to go with the doctor and do as he was told, he respected him and continued with his appointment. The doctor came out and told us he behaved very well in the appointment and that what I said to him seemed to change his attitude. I remember enjoying that day from the moment we took him back home that afternoon.

After we had dropped him off, my mum looked over to me and said, "You were really good with him, I can definitely see you having a future working with children." This lit up my face and sparked a little excitement for all the possibilities. I asked her what kinds of jobs work with children and as she listed them, a teacher really stood out for me. I had taught Daniel how to tie a shoelace (from a toy they had there), some more colors and shapes, and had spent time reading with him. From that day, I played "schools" with my teddy bears almost daily.

There have been other things that have influenced my decisions to be a teacher, but my time with Daniel and my mum really increased my interest of it.

I thought back to all the teachers I had had and some of them also influenced my desire for teaching. As I have said in a previous post, Mr. Rawbone was a large blessing in my life and I knew I wanted to enjoy teaching as much as he did and inspire many as he had done. He still remembered my name and made conversation with me every time he saw me until my last day at that school, he was always talked about among my friends (how much we loved him), and he had given me a new love for English, among other things.

A lot further in my life I also got some opportunities to experience teaching in a hands-on way which has cemented my aspirations of teaching even more. My junior and senior year of high school I had the opportunity to take a class called, "Cadet Teacher Academy." This was a class offered through my local technology center. It allowed me to experience the closest thing to teaching that I possibly could have been exposed to at this point in my life. My junior year I was in a 3rd grade classroom with my mentor teacher Mr. Coder. I was in his classroom for three days a week for two hours a day. During this time I helped students to read, practice their handwriting,  I taught lessons, I ran errands, and many more things. The other two days of the week I was in a classroom with classmates who were also in a class three days a week. During these days, we talked over various teaching methods, we taught to each other, and we learned a lot about the history of schools and teaching. I thoroughly enjoyed my junior year in this 3rd grade classroom that I was so excited to be able to do it again for my senior year.

My junior year was an amazing experience, but my senior year topped it off even more. I went in five days a week for three to four hours a day in a 1st grade classroom. The students addressed me as, "Miss Harrop" and they saw me as one of their morning teachers. I would do small work every morning with the same group of students but I also taught every day to the class as a whole. My mentor teacher was the best too, she gave me lots of advice and was a great role model throughout the process. I had so many fun memories, ideas, and experience from being in her classroom and working with her. I already knew that I wanted to be a teacher, but my junior and senior year were experiences that made me even more sure of my decision. It helped me to see what teaching was like day-to-day and be in the same classroom with the same students for a whole year, closely to what I will have when I have my own classroom.

I was able to sharpen my teaching and confidence with all subject areas, but especially English. Each morning when I worked with small groups, I would test students on their sight words, spelling, and comprehension. With this, I had to be able to spot where their struggles were and give them various things to work on until the next time they worked with me. I also helped a lot with the English portion of the students' curriculum. During this time and this year, students mainly worked on various sounds such as a long a versus a short a, etc. They learned these through various games, matching activities, worksheets, and more. I instructed some lessons and helped supervise others. I walked around the room and would aid students where it was needed and made sure everyone was on track. We also had students produce a research project on an interest of their choice which they loved. I feel as though I am more confident in teaching English in my future classroom and know I will enjoy the process.

I have since taken classes at Western Michigan University and had various experiences in the classroom. I am set to graduate in the Spring of 2016 and I am so excited. I am really looking forward to having my own classroom, supplies, and students to teach.