Educators and Future Educators

I am a future educator and I am so beyond excited for this dream to finally come true! This will be my second degree and my second career change. I worry everyday that I am too old to attend college again and too old to change careers late in my life. What I do not worry about is completing my dream because I am a survivor and I will make my dream come true. I will be a future educator! (Just wish I would have listened to my father and followed this career dream first. Our parents really do know best.)

What kind of future educator will I be? I will be the best educator I can be and learn from other educators. I want to make my class fun and be a listener to my students. Students face challenges everyday and life now is hard for any age. Students need a teacher that will listen to them, ask how their day was, and assist them if they need extra help.

I have had great teachers and teachers that should not be teaching in my opinion. Some people were born to be teachers and some could care less regarding their job. I can remember one elementary school teacher when I was growing up that made a huge impact in my life. She was an English teacher and showed me that learning the proper grammar of English would benefit me all through life. She was so correct! It has assisted me in writing research papers, creating legal documents at my current job, and talking properly to others.

I am so impressed with one of my professors this semester at the University of Wyoming. She asks us a personal question while she takes attendance. This is a great idea and ice breaker for the day. It allows us to get to know our classmates and hear other's opinions. I want to use this everyday in my future classroom. I admire that she bases our grades on effort and not so much the right answer. This is the most fair approach to grading I have ever experienced and the way other professors should be in my opinion. Some students can spend so much time on an assignment and really try their best. At times, the students can still not have the right answer or maybe they are like me and not a great test taker. Because of her approach, we still receive a good grade for our effort. I wished she could teach her approach to one of my other professors whom decides to change the grading process with every passing week and not tell the class until you receive a "B" instead of an "A". Oh well, what do you do? Appreciate the great professor that you have this semester for sure!