As a future school teacher I want to be anything but conventional, or what was considered conventional in my educational experience.  My main goal is to have students think critically for themselves.  This will be encouraged and expressed by myself having a caring and respectful attitude, while continually challenging myself to be fair and open-minded.  Also, I will utilize different teaching and learning style to reach all of my students.

    I believe that teachers have a responsibility to give students the tools to be open-minded, respectful of others, and able to think critically for themselves.  I want students to be able to take all of their knowledge on specific topics and come to their own conclusion.  Too often students believe what they are told without questioning or thinking for themselves.  I want to teach topics that are somewhat controversial, but extremely important like: racism, sexism, and any other type of prejudice or discrimination.  If my students learn only one thing from me, I want it to be that you do not have to endorse the things that you must tolerate.   

The teacher I aspire to be is one that is caring and respectful to all of my students.  To be caring and respectful I will listen to my students, help my students in any way possible, and place high expectations on all of my students.  I hope that I can get my students to share their opinions freely in class, without feeling ashamed or afraid.  To do all of these things, I need to make sure that all of my students understand what respect is and how to show it.  I need to be fair in my teaching, open-minded, approachable, and ensure that the classroom environment is comfortable. 

To be more specific within my field, which is broad-field social studies, I will use different teaching and learning approaches in my classroom, starting every day with a discussion of current events.  Then I will try to devote at least part of the class time to group work.  I want to create an environment that promotes individual idea through group discussion and cooperative learning.  I will use fieldtrips, guest speakers, web quests, community service work, and anything else that I can find to make class interesting and enjoyable for my students and me.  I want to be enthusiastic and push myself to keep current with new and upcoming information in education. 

   By staying up-to-date with new changes I will not only sustain my interests; it will benefit my students with cutting edge educational needs. There are many challenges put upon teachers because we are given the opportunity to be role models for millions of children.  It is an honor that should be treated with respect.  And we need to remember that we are constantly making an impression on children’s lives.  I am eager and excited to make a difference in my students’ lives by giving them the knowledge to think for themselves and the appreciation to respect others’ choices and opinions.