What do I Believe as a Teacher?

     Earlier this semester I was asked to reflect on the experiences throughout my life that brought me to studying English Teaching at BYU, as well as some of my beliefs about being a teacher. I talked about the amazing teachers I had throughout middle and high school that taught me and loved me as an individual. They taught me English for sure, but they were models for the kind of teacher I wanted to be, long before I realized how much I truly love English. For me, even from elementary school, I wanted to be a teacher and I wanted to help students, way before I figured out I wanted to teach English. I wanted to "teach students, not English" as Professor Brown has drilled into me throughout my time in the major. 

    Even though a love of teaching–and a love of teachers–came before the love of English, studying in this program has nurtured that passion as well. English is a subject that is naturally more student focused than other subjects. We are all about the human experience–reading and writing are our tools for learning and understanding who we are and who our neighbor is. They are mirrors of our own lives and windows into someone else's. One of my beliefs is that reading and writing in small amounts regularly will make an individual more empathetic, better at communicating, and will improve their overall skills over time more than an explicit instruction. 

   

    One thing I truly believe in is building a community of learners. Above, I have added a picture of my  AP Literature class on the last day of senior year. Many of these amazing people I had grown up with through elementary and middle school, ending up back together in the same class even with a school population of almost 3,000 students. Very few of them went on to be English majors, but all brought a unique perspective to studying literature thanks to their individual hobbies, interests, and lived experiences. They were my learning community–peers who were unafraid to be vulnerable in the classroom and who taught me just as much as my beloved Mrs. McNett did (pictured far left). We were encouraged to share from our hearts, but my teacher was not afraid to push us to go deeper, to help us find the write words, poem, or story to help us share our unique experiences. And of course, we also learned English and read fascinating novels. We learned together, and therefore we grew together. This is the type of classroom I want to have in the future. A classroom that tackles difficult texts and topics, and relies on the experiences of my students to bring it into their hearts. We are not just going to read cool books and write essays–we are going to be a community that teaches each other. 

    To help build this community of learners, I want to commit to modeling learning for my students. I will write and read along side them, always ready to share the ways that I too struggle. As I commit to read a wide variety of novels, especially YA novels, I have a goal to help my students, especially my struggling readers, find a novel that they would enjoy and is appropriate for their independent reading level. I can model this in the way that I read novels of all reading levels and of all genres and subjects. The more I read, the more I'll be able to help my students too find a love of reading. 

    One thing I've come to recognize through my classes and discussions with professionals in the field is that there are so many opportunities for career and academic growth. I was drawn to the major at first because I loved that the end path was clear–when I graduate, I will get a job as a teacher and that's what I'll do. I did not have to worry about what I would do with my degree once it was in my hands. Now, I recognize that teaching is a path that leads many places and has many branches. There are many possible degrees to get a Master's in, and many specialized opportunities within education. Part of my growth as a new teacher will be finding my niches, getting an idea of what kinds of content or skills I might be interested in specializing in and advocating for future educators. While I may have an idea of my current interests, I expect those to both broaden and narrow as I become a full fledged teacher. 

    

    I think I'll always be an advocate for teaching YA Literature, either on its own or in conjunction with classic texts, I would love to spend more time studying the genre and picking current, popular, and meaningful texts for my students. I also think I'll strive to advocate for teaching the core standards in fun and interesting ways, trying not to lean too heavily on five paragraph essays and other limited models. I've grown to appreciate the standards for their versatility and hope to become a teacher that uses them to their full potential. 

    

    I know my education in English Teaching is not over. Thanks to my professors and mentors, I know I have a long time to keep learning, practicing, and refining my pedagogical skills and beliefs. I'm looking forward to being a lifelong learner in a community of learners and educators. So what do I believe as a teacher? I believe that students and teachers can become better a little bit every day. I believe in my role as a mentor and a fellow learner, not a lecturer, to my students. I believe that students who read and write often, who read and write things that are important to them, will become better readers and writers. Most importantly, I believe that I will discover new beliefs as I grow into career as an English Teacher, and I'm very excited to see where that goes.