Introduction: My Road to Teacherhood

Hi!  My name is Marci and I am excited to say that I am going back to school to become an Elementary School Teacher.  "Repeat the Beat" has been created as an assignment for my Language Arts class where I will be answering questions that are geared towards self reflection.  I am enjoying the blog world, so plan on using "Repeat the Beat" throughout my journey to teacherhood.  I will be posting questions that I need to answer for class as well as anything that pertains to my experiences that will help me to become the teacher that I would like to be.

Returning to school after 15 years was not a decision that I took lightly.  It began when my youngest child entered the toddler years.  I started by working at a recreation centre where I taught Pre-School as well as creating and running various pre-school aged programs.  As soon as my children started grade school, I became very involved in their classrooms.  I have had remarkable opportunities to learn from amazing teachers!  I have been able to join K-7 classrooms and teach various topics (Aboriginal history, arts & crafts, math), assist students individually, plan parties and field trips, organize music & drama, PTA, and class rep.  However, the most valuable work I have done for the teachers is prep.  By prep, I am referring to those countless hours of labeling duotangs, cutting hundreds of shapes out of paper, and decorating the classroom walls and bulletin boards.  I am ready for all the extra hours I will spend prepping and the money I will spend on my classroom as the key for a positive environment is that the children feel like their classroom belongs to them.

You would think that it would be easy to answer the following question: "Why do you want to be an Elementary School Teacher?"  The easiest answer would be to say that I would like to mold young minds and to help them enjoy school.  This is a given. For me, it's simple: I feel at home when I am in a classroom.  Even as a young child (8 years old), I was fascinated with old school houses.  Perhaps I am comfortable with classrooms because I moved around a lot as a child.  It all comes down to one very important thing: I know that this is where I belong.  I have often wondered what would have happened if I started when I was younger.  I am 38 now.  I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. I received my Bachelor of Social Work and had 15 years of life experience before I started my journey.  For me, this is what I needed in order to become the school teacher that I would like to be.