Becoming the Teacher I Needed and Never Had

Becoming The Teacher I Needed And Never Had

I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. At six years old, I was “teaching” my stuffed animals, giving them homework, completing their assignments, and grading their assignments with my red teacher pen. I would place about six of my stuffed animals in a semi-circle facing a blue plastic chalkboard easel I owned. This classroom of mine was set up in my bedroom next to my bunk beds. I would write on the chalkboard and call on different stuffed animals to “answer” my questions. I would play the role of both teacher and student. At the end of the given time, I would assign homework to my students. I would give each stuffed animal a sheet of paper and orally give directions of something to write. I would then take the piece of paper myself and write on the page. My favorite activity was when I went back into the teacher role and got to use a red pen to mark up the paper. I would put check marks throughout the page and put a smiley face on top. I wanted to provide my students with positive reinforcement. This brought me great joy and happiness. I felt like I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be a teacher of young children.