Running Head: EDUCATION REFLECTION 1

Educational Reflection and Background

Lindsey, Ryan, Mathews

College of Western Idaho

April 18, 2020

Author Note

Lindsey Ryan Mathews, Department, College of Western Idaho, Boise, Idaho.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Lindsey Ryan Mathews,

Department, College of Western Idaho, 5500 East Opportunity Drive, Nampa, ID 83687. E-mail:

Lindseymathews@my.cwi.edu
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Educational Background

I am in the process of pursuing a new career. That career is in Elementary Education.

Choosing a career is a daunting task, how do you know if it is the right one. If someone is to

become a teacher there should be much emphasis on one’s own background of education.

Through this reflection I can think about the different schools I attended as a youth. I can

remember how my teachers made me feel, good and bad. This reflection not only has to be about

the past but I can focus on the education that I am receiving now, in college. What classes I like,

the different ways teachers present information and the subjects that I am drawn to are all

important in helping me decide why I want to teach.

Taft Elementary school holds very fond memories for me. I was able to stay at Taft from

kindergarten to sixth grade. The school was a home away from home, it was a comfortable place

to be among teachers that not only guided their students but also cared. It was my fourth-grade

teacher, Mrs. Wright that sent me to the nurse because she knew I needed glasses. I remember

getting my first pair of glasses, it was a crisp clear new world. Mrs. Wright was so happy for me

when she saw my new glasses. She was such an attentive teacher. My fifth-grade teacher Mrs.

Randall read, Goodnight Mr. Tom, to the class, I still remember that story and I bought the book

for my collection as an adult. These memories and learning experiences are priceless. William

Howard Taft is a low-income school but many of those teachers helped me become who I am

today.

I went to Hillside Jr. High and Riverglen Jr. High. My eighth grade English teacher, Ms.

Taylor not only educated me, but she gave me some much-needed confidence by encouraging

my writing. I went from Riverglen to Capital. I passed tenth grade at Capital with high grades

and I started eleventh grade at Capital High School but dropped out the first quarter. I then went

to the alternative high school, Mountain Cove. I ended up getting my GED so I could become a
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Veterinary Technician. I passed my GED with honors and ended up taking classes through CSI. I

completed my first year of the Vet Tech program while working full time as a vet tech.

Two girls, a divorce and nine years later I am attending CWI. I am in my first year of

college and I feel that education is where I belong. As an older student I understand the

importance of education. Education opens so many doors and guides people in the right

directions. Not only do I want to learn but I also want to teach. I want to help guide young minds

and I want to teach children how to read. There is so much freedom in reading. My elementary

school teachers have made me want to have a place in children’s lives like they had and still have

in mine. I also want to teach in a low-income elementary school. I feel that children attending

those schools need a little more guidance and love that I want to give. I have always been

compassionate and have used compassion in my previous jobs.

Work History Service and Extracurricular Activities

Most of my life I have worked with animals, eighteen years to be exact. Five years I was

a volunteer even though I wasn’t paid, I worked hard and took excellent care the animals. For

five years I was a kennel attendant, which is basically what I did as a volunteer. I worked as a

Veterinarian Technician for eight years. After that I stayed at home with my children for a few

years.

My work experience is not varied but I have experienced much. When I was ten years old

I started volunteering at Ewing Animal Hospital. Three days a week I would walk to Ewings

after school and take care of the animals. At fifteen I was hired as a kennel. When I was twenty, I

started working as a Vet Tech. I loved it. I was drawing blood and running the blood machines.

Placing catheters, anesthetizing patients for surgery, as well as prepping and monitoring the
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animals throughout the surgery. Filling prescriptions, drawing up drugs and communicating with

clients about how to administer medications to their animals. Vet Techs have many

responsibilities I can only list a few, doing Cystocentesis and urinalysis tests. Taking X-Rays and

doing dental prophies. Fecals and blood slides.

After having children my life so became different. I wanted different things. I still love

animals, but I started to realize being a Vet Tech wasn’t really a career I wanted for the rest of

my life. The pay is not adequate to support a family. I started I focus on other passions I had and

what I could do with them. Reading has always been a love of mine and reading with my

children is one of my greatest joys. Then after volunteering in my daughter’s kindergarten class

and becoming friendly with her teacher, I realized that I wanted to teach.

The veterinary field and teaching do not have much in common. But working with

animals has taught me patience, empathy and compassion. It might sound funny to compare but

animal parents can be just as protective as human parents and I always communicated well with

the clients. I hope that experience will help me communicate with my students’ parents. My

volunteer experience with my daughters’ school has also given me some insight into teaching as

well. I am looking forward to gaining more experiences in teaching children. I want to educate

children in academics and in ethics. Ethics can be a controversial subject covering many

different views. One ethical issue involves children and vaccines.

Ethical Reasoning in Education

Is it ethical for schools to require children be immunized in order to attend school? This

has been a controversial issue mostly due to a fraudulent study done by former British doctor

Andrew Wakefield. In 1998 The Lancet Medical Journal published his research on the MMR
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vaccine and links to Autism. Because of this, parents stopped vaccinating their children and

Measles which was eliminated in 2000 came back with high numbers. As of October 9th, 2019,

measles is at an all-time high in the United States at 1,250 cases reported. Many states have

passed stricter vaccination requirements removing the religious and philosophical exemptions;

but still allowing medical exemptions for those who are allergic to vaccines. Idaho stills allows

all three exemptions. Is it ethical to allow these exemptions or should parents be required to

vaccine their children?

I would argue that, yes children should be vaccinated. The schools should remove the

philosophical and religious exemptions. Not only do vaccines keep one child safe but others as

well with herd immunity. The only exemption should be medical, if someone is allergic to

vaccines and cannot receive them those children are at a higher risk of being around

unvaccinated children. This ethical reasoning would fall under utilitarianism, that all humanity

would benefit from vaccines.

Ethics are an important part of life and should be followed in academia and personal life.

By focusing on my own ethics I can decide if teaching is the right career for me. There are also

other careers available in education that are not teaching.

Considerations for Choosing Education as a Career

I have thought long and hard if teaching would be the right career for me. I thought so

long that I really should have gone to school before I did. I feel really old to be starting a

teaching career at 38, which is how old I will be when I graduate. With that said I think I will be

a good teacher; I will try my hardest to reach all children with efficient lesson plans. I am a very
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reflective person and I know I will give much thought to my lesson plans and if they don’t work,

I will have no problem admitting that. I can criticize myself and by doing so I learn every day. I

always want to be a lifelong learner. When you stop learning, life losses its passion and mystery.

The main reason why I should teach is because I want to. I want to teach children how to

read. I believe that I have the passion and enthusiasm to make reading fun for children. I have

empathy and I will try my hardest to make sure that my students succeed. I should be an

elementary teacher because I love children and I want to see them become lifelong learners.

Reading and writing is a skill people have to use in virtually every career, I want to inspire

children to love the different places and characters stories can hold.

I have thought about other careers in the education field that I could possibly do if I end

up not being a good teacher. I would try to become a reading specialist. Reading is my passion,

so I am still holding that career in the back of my mind. Another job I would enjoy in the

education field would be a counselor. I have been told that I am calm and easy to talk to. I am a

good listener and counseling is something that I would like to do, once again in the elementary

school setting.

Other jobs that I might be good at would a librarian. I love going to the library. The Eagle

Public Library has so many fun activities for children. Once a week they have books before

bedtime where the librarian reads stories, they sing songs and do a craft. I would love to do that.

Also, the reading program is great in the summer. My girls do it and I love talking books, even

children’s books. If teaching doesn’t work out a librarian would be a good job for me. One of my

main goals in life is pass on the love of reading to other people.

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Professional Goals

Right now, my main goal is to graduate with a bachelors in elementary education. What I

really want to do is teach. I want to teach at a low-income school and give children the love they

need to succeed. I’m sure that I am full of expectations that I may not be able to deliver, but I

will try my hardest to teach all children. I want all the children I teach to love literature or at least

respect its place in the world.

Looking at my short-term goals I really only have one that I want to reach and that is to

graduate from CWI with a 4.0. I might not be able to accomplish it, but I will try my best. If I

don’t reach this goal, I have to not beat myself up about it. I am defiantly my own worst critic.

That is probably one of the reasons that goals intimidate me if I fail, I am really critical of

myself. Another short-term goal I would like to set is getting more exercise, I really want to start

swimming again.

My main long-term goal is to obtain my bachelor’s degree in elementary education. This

is my first year back in college so I have a way to go. I will go to CWI for another year and then

I plan to go to BSU to finish my degree. I am excited to finish my degree and teach children. I

think I will be a good teacher because I have the passion to teach. If I find out that I am not a

good teacher I will do something else with my degree because it is unfair to everyone involved to

stay in teaching if your heart isn’t in it.

EDUCATION REFLECTION 8

References

Autism Fast Facts. (2020, January 31). Retrieved from

https://www.cnn.com/2013/10/14/health/autism-fast-facts/index.html

School Requirements - Idaho. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/Health/IdahoImmunizationProgram/SchoolandChildcar

e/SchoolRequirements/tabid/3785/Default.aspx

Utilitarianism: https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=FE9FCE866A0904F!339&authkey=!

AOQPlZbQslNMbkU&ithint=file%2cpdf