Pre-Philosophy Statement 1

Pre-Philosophy Statement Artifact

Morgan Leavitt

College of Southern Nevada

Edu 203: Special Education in Contemporary Society

Dr. Warby

August 31, 2020

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Pre-Philosophy Statement Artifact

I knew I wanted to be a teacher at a young age. I had incredible role models for teachers,

including my fourth and fifth grade teacher, among others in my later years, and two aunt who

were also teachers. I looked up to them and admired them dearly. They were always so

encouraging and valued the student’s differences and diversity. Those are among some of the

traits I aspire to have and that I believe educators should have. I will discuss this more in detail in

my essay along with...

I’ve had some inspiring teachers in my life. One of those teachers, Mrs. Lauer, was my

fourth-grade teacher. At this level, we really dove into creative writing and doing more than just

short stories. I always loved writing and had a vivid imagination. My ability to create a story and

bring it to life was appreciated and encouraged by Mrs. Lauer. She always applauded me and

gave me suggestions to improve my writing. She was always challenging me. I felt that she cared

about me individually and wanted me to succeed. She was also so kind and patient and made me

feel safe in the classroom. These are all traits I aspire to have and have worked toward gaining.

Miss Bates was my fifth-grade teacher and was sterner and more serious than Mrs. Lauer, but she

definitely had a soft side. She prepared me, as well as my classmates, for middle school. She was

strict and treated us like we were adults. This made the transition to middle school just a little bit

easier. I’ll always remember this spelling game we used to play with the entire class. The last

person standing would win and would receive one of Miss Bates’ famous homemade suckers.

We would play this game every Friday and it was the high light of my week. I hope to get my

students as excited and as involved as Miss Bates had me.

I was introduced to special needs children at a young age. My first cousin, Austin, who is

my age, is severely autistic. He has the vocabulary of a toddler and is low-functioning. He has
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required a lot of work, treatment, patience, and love and I’ve been able to learn so much from

him. His sister and I were so close growing up so I got to spend a lot of time with Austin as well.

I was able to develop compassion and empathy for him and provide him with the patience and

caring he needed. He is very lovable and loves to be around people and talk. Being around him

so much I was able to understand what he was saying and communicate with him. He was a

simple boy who just loved to explore, fish, hike, play sports, and ride dirt bikes. I grew to have a

love for him and understanding for him and others like him that I didn’t have before. This

offered me an insight before I got to elementary school. In elementary school there were a few

students who were involved in mainstreaming and would only enter our classrooms on certain

days and certain times. I befriended a certain little boy who became one of my best friends. He

would then introduce me to the students in his special education class and I began to eat lunch

with them and help the aides with them during recess. I loved to see their true joy and excitement

in their faces when I would come play and hang out with them. They just wanted to feel included

and I just wanted to make friends. The friendships were so pure and filled with love, but not all

kids felt the same way about the special needs’ children. I would later understand that it takes a

special kind of person to work with special needs children.

When I entered high school, I really started to think about what I wanted to do with my

life. I knew I wanted to be a teacher, but what kind of teacher and what grade level? In middle

school and continuing to high school, I volunteered to help with the special needs’ students

during P.E. and lunch. This is when I really noticed the cruel behavior exhibited by some

classmates. I didn’t realize the judgement and hate these special needs students faced on a daily

basis. Whether they realized other kids were being mean to them or not, all they wanted was to

feel included and part of. This is when I realized that it takes a special kind of person to work
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with these kids and that not everyone is cut out for it or right for it. Special Education requires

someone who is very educated in disabilities, behaviors, how to react and maintain control in the

classroom, someone who is patient, tolerant, and loving. These students need to feel safe and

welcome at school just like anybody else. Seeing some of the judgement other students

exhibitied toward the special needs kids really inspired me to make a difference in their days. I

realized that maybe I have what it takes to aspire to be a special education teacher.

While I still have yet to decide whether I want to teach general education or special

education, I am steadfast in becoming the best teacher I can be. I have a passion to provide a safe

and inspiring environment for my future students. I want my students to feel listened to,

appreciated, acknowledged, safe, and valued individually. I want my students to learn from me

what they need to be successful. I want to be a powerful role model in all of their lives and show

them to never give up. I hope I can provide a warm and welcoming environment to my future

students to come and I am so excited to serve them.

I believe if you want to be an educator, you have to educate yourself on diversity because

your class is going to be full of different students with different backgrounds and home lives.

You have to try to understand where these children are coming from to help them. One way to

educate yourself is to volunteer around your community and see who else is living amongst you.

I do this by volunteering at the Las Vegas Rescue Mission and helping coach my son’s soccer

team. I know there’s more I can do, but volunteering at the Rescue Mission has given me a

glimpse into the way some other people live. I have not only learned individually from these

people during my visits, but I have appreciated what I have and work harder to maintain my

success. By assisting coaching for my son’s soccer team, I am able to interact with children and
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their parents, from different races and backgrounds. By doing these things, I am stepping out of

my comfort zone and helping the community.

Lastly, I’d like to discuss how I hope to be successful in my first few years of teaching. I

have had many jobs since I was sixteen including customer service and food and beverage

industry. These have helped me develop the traits I need to be a team player. I have a few friends

who have become teachers who I go to for advice and tips on my journey to become one myself.

I find this helpful because I believe you need a strong support system as a teacher. The job is

intense and can be draining, but is so fulfilling. I believe you should also make friends with your

colleagues and peers at your school. Having a team around you to support you and help you with

your success and your students’ success is really important. I’d like to think that I am a great

team player. I am friendly and go out of my way to say hello to everyone I work with and I

believe this will help me in building professional relationships. I also think you need to be

patient and a good listener to be a teacher and I believe my work history has prepared me thus far

in how to communicate with my peers.

Being an educator is so exciting and I am so excited about my journey to become a

teacher. I know I have a lot more to learn, but I am excited for the road ahead of me. I am

interested in learning more about special education in this course and hopefully deciding if this is

the path I’d like to go down. I expect to learn about the laws, the history of special education,

how to react and behave towards special needs students, the different disabilities, and the

different approaches educators have taken in special education.

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