Personal Statement: My Role As An Educator

It is another August. The teachers enter the school for the academic year, the main hallway, as well as the walkways are buzzing with excitement and mixed emotions. The faculty meeting begins at 8:30. The returning faculty are engaged in conversations of last year’s accomplishments and setbacks. A first-year teacher enters timidly smiling and finds a seat in the crowded library. As the conversation continues she sits nervously listening to the exchange amongst her new colleagues. The conversation shifts to an annoyed teacher who begins to voice her negative opinion of the administrators, the school’s appearance, the parents, and the students. The unseasoned teacher’ smile begins to fade as she continues to listen. The meeting begins; she sits …show more content…
However, it is my obligation to raise the consciousness level of these students. It is my charge not just to educate them on sentence structure or how shadows are made, or the order of planets in our solar system. Educators are in good positions to assist students with developing their personal qualities, helping them with self-awareness and building personal values. Many schools have fraternities and sororities to come in and mentor students. That is all well and good, but I would like to see teachers build a more positive relationship with students. During my undergraduate studies, some were asked about their pledging preference. The response, none, just Me Phi Me. These individuals thought by becoming a member of a group their sense of individuality would be altered. This school year I would organize a Me Phi Me Mentor program. The purpose of this program would be for teachers to mentor students who lack motivation and have a low self- esteem. Shakespeare wrote to thy own self be true. An individual must have self-awareness, a strong value system, and strong personal qualities before contributing positively to a group, much less to a community. The teachers’ job is to help the student build personal character and values. Respect for self can help one have respect for others. If respect is not taught or if you are not sure of who you are …show more content…
She entered my class early Monday morning with tears in her eyes. I tried desperately to console her before the students arrived to school. The young teacher was upset by the lack of respect the students had for her in her class. She tried to talk in between sobs about the lack of focus the students had on the lesson. The students would engage in conversations which later would become abusive bickering and then a fight. It wasn’t just an occasional fight. It was a constant battle keeping control in class. Unfortunately, this was the young teacher who heard the negative conversation during the pre-planning meeting, but failed to prepare herself to handle similar situations, if they were to happen in her class. I tell new teachers you can hear what goes on and do nothing to stop it, or become proactive and make a difference. Change is not the forbidden fruit but the seed that must be planted to alter an outcome. Teachers have he ability to change lives.
Teacher leaders can encourage social change by becoming more active in the lives of individuals they meet on a daily basis. Besides the family and the church, educators are on the forefront for changing and altering lives of students and, as well as, novice teachers. We can assist in changing the mindset of individuals, so that they can function more effectively and humanely in their