Education should never be viewed as anything but a wonderful opportunity! Children in this country have the opportunity to learn and we educators have the responsibility to teach.  I feel honored to be a part of this exchange of knowledge.  I say exchange because I know that not only will I teach the children – the children will also teach me!  I look forward to sharing the joy of education with my students.  I will not only share math strategies, science experiments, imaginative stories, writing techniques, and historical events – I will share with my students the idea that school should not be dreaded but appreciated and looked upon with great expectations.               

            As I look at society today, I notice a trend of degrading morals and lack of responsibility.  While it is ultimately the parent or guardian’s responsibility to teach morals, I feel that educators play a huge role in this area as well.  As a child matures, their responsibilities never lessen but only grow.  If I can begin to teach a child the simple responsibilities of coming to class prepared, completing assignments, and accepting the consequences of their actions, I will have taken a step towards preparing him for the greater responsibilities life will toss at him in the future. 

            In order to reach and teach every child, I will recognize that all children learn differently.  While it will be hard to give one-on-one attention to each child during every lesson, I can individualize lessons by incorporating aspects that match the students’ learning styles.  This process will begin by administering a learning styles inventory with the students.  After analyzing the results, I can design lessons that will be meaningful and projects that will be challenging as well as attainable for each student. 

            Throughout my college education I have found that collaboration is a necessary component of success.  This is a lesson that I will carry with me throughout my career!  In order to design the best lessons and learning activities, I will collaborate with my peers.  Advice and constructive criticism will be taken with a smile and implemented in ways that will improve my teaching techniques.      

            While all appropriate subjects are important in the curriculum, my educational teaching experiences have shown me that mathematics and reading at two areas that must be stressed and mastered before students can move on to higher level tasks.  There is absolutely no excuse for 5^th grade students who cannot read and do not know the multiplication facts.  In order to ensure that each student has a firm base to build on, I will dedicate a large percentage of my teaching time in the elementary classroom to literacy and math skills. Content from these two areas will be integrated into all other subjects that I teach in order to provide a rounded curriculum.                   

            There are two priceless tools that I will carry with me throughout my career as an educator:  positive attitude and well-established procedures.  The two of these combined will eliminate the majority of behavioral issues in the classroom.  Students who know they are looked upon with love and positive expectations and who know classroom routines are ready to begin the journey of education!