A Teacher? Why?

In your journal, explore your reasons for wanting to teach English language arts. Find stories from other teachers about entering the profession. If you come up with several reasons, consider which is most important to you and why. There’s a difference between explaining what drew you to teaching and what you want to accomplish as a teacher. Here, concentrate on what drew you to teaching English.

 -- from Teaching English in the High School and Middle School

I think I have wanted to be a teacher since I was eight; either because my third grade teacher, Mrs. Flowers*, was fantastic or because I wanted to be Miss Honey from Roald Dahl’s Matilda. Probably both. Mrs. Flowers* was that teacher – the kind we all remember. From the Milky Way bars she put on our desk the first day of third grade, to the musical she directed us in at the end of the year, we were totally engaged and I can’t remember not wanting to school that year.

Sometime around eighth grade I wanted to be an actress. No doubt the neediness of the young adolescent melded with the art of Baz Luhrmann and old-timey musicals. Being in drama classes with a pretty charismatic and strong drama teacher made me think “Hey, why don’t I be a drama teacher? That’s more normal.”

But really, the answer was even more simple than that. I did well in drama class, but actually being in plays wasn’t really my forte. I am not sure I wanted to pull it off. I forced it, and a career is not something you should force yourself to love.

 English class, however, was a space where I could depend on my own success. Math class made me nauseous; Spanish lost me; science was amusing, but I didn’t love it; Newspaper was fun, but I was missing fiction. English was always safe, always fun, and I was undeniably good at it. Also, high school provided me with three phenomenal English teachers. They brought back that feeling Mrs. Flowers* gave off. There was never a day I said “God. I do not want to go to English class.” I literally always wanted to be there…even when I had English in the mornings.

I think I first admitted to myself that I wanted to teach English when we read The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne in my junior Honors English class. I fell in love with the symbolism and the characters. I could have written about that book for pages and pages. And that’s what you have to look for when deciding on a career, right? You have to want to keep doing it.

Just because you can write and write and write doesn’t really mean you should be a teacher. If anything, it was a good indicator I should be working for literary journals. But, I loved watching my teachers. Sometimes, I was amazed how they handled difficult students, or difficult topics, or described the readings or what they wanted to see us do.

I went into college (community college) wanting to teach high school English. I was really lucky that I knew exactly what I wanted to do. But, there was a lot to learn.

I transferred to a four year college, and took all of my education courses. Through educational psychology, I came to love being in the middle school. I love the teachers and the students. They’re so friendly.

I like working with a team of people, and I like students who ask questions. And, after spending three years observing in middle schools, I have decided it’s official: no one asks as many questions as a middle school student. They ask the best questions.

Hence the minor in middle level education.

What is so amazing is how complex my attitude towards teaching has become…how much closer I feel to it because of exploring different ways of thinking about education, the way humans learn, and the roles of teachers in American society.

I used to think it started with a desire to share my love of fiction with young people. But, really, it started because I saw Mrs. Flowers* immersed in that same complex form of teaching and how powerful that can be. In a way it has been cyclical.

That’s good news, because it just means there’s more learning on my part to come!

*pseudonyms used to protect the privacy of individuals mentioned