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Why I Want to be a Teacher

By: Nadine Ortiz

EDFD 2020 Found. Of Education

Kim Sulz

October 16, 2019

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School has a huge impact on children, as they spend more time at school than they do at

home. Parents have to trust in teachers that they are ensuring a safe place for their kids.

Children’s minds are sponges at young ages that are easily influenced by those they are around

most. This is why I want to become a teacher. I want to develop a safe and friendly environment

where both the parents and students feel safe and find joy in the art of learning.

Have you ever observed a child struggling with something and instead of helping them

right away, letting them continue to struggle? If you pursue to watch, when they finally

overcome what they were struggling with you will experience the pure joy that appears on their

face of success. To help a child grow is big enough motivation that inspired me to invest time

into becoming a teacher.

A personal reason I want to become a teacher is to ensure every child is truly loved and

cared for. I used to watch my son go to a preschool where not all the teachers were fully invested

in him. My son lives his life with something most people know, autism. It is very easy for others

to let this define him but I strive to teach him that he is capable of everything else his peers are. I

want to be able to pass this on to other children who think they cannot overcome something or

are not good enough to others. Treating each child with individual love and patience is a key role

to early childhood success.

An area of strength that I can bring to the teaching profession is my experience starting at

a young age. My sophomore year of high school my dad had another child and I was then given

the responsibility to take care of him just about everyday. This made it very easy when I had

children of my own. My children are now three and six years old. My son who is six has taught

me so much along the way. Struggling with some of the effects that autism brings, such as his
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texture issues, need for routine, speech delay, and social interaction struggles, I have learned a

lot of patience. Not just with my own child but I've put that to practice with the children I now

work with at a preschool. Strengths also comes with areas of improvement. It is still hard for me

to interact with different age groups, as I have not personally experienced ages higher than my

own kids on a day-to-day basis. I would love to keep growing in that area and learn the proper

interactions with other age groups without feeling uncomfortable. This is a small curveball

within the process of obtaining my degree.

We as people all enjoy a little recognition here and there. Some extrinsic rewards that

would be satisfying in the teaching industry would be to award a child with something they have

been doing without question. Such as good behavior, reading, or attendance awards and seeing

the satisfaction and excitement on their face. An intrinsic reward that teachers can benefit from is

simply setting up a child for success. This can be either their next year of education or setting

them up for life after school. Both of these types of rewards can and will be so satisfying as a

teacher.

Being a teacher will have its highs and lows. Luckily the highs will always outweigh the

lows. Knowing I can be a child’s safe place or teaching them something new will be a reward in

itself. I want to be there for them when someone else cannot. This is why I want to be a teacher.