Break the Mold

I believe that teachers should take into the classroom their experiences as a student. I would not push or enforce something on the students under my watch that I deplored as a student. As a child, I remember the good teachers and the bad. I remember their techniques and what did (didn't) work for me. There were the teachers who either did not know or otherwise did not care about different learning styles, technology, and relevant (student) issues. I remember being infuriated when those teachers expected me to fit their preset of what I should be and their criticism when I failed them. I remember becoming upset when I could not maitain my individuality within the barriers that were the classroom walls. It was like I had to take on a different persona. I had to put down the Ashley that everyone else saw for the always focused, always studious Ashley. It is a lot of work to effortlessly maintain two separate me's! I believe that "students" are children first, and embracing the rigidity of the traditional rules makes them see the information presented as something that has no relevance in their personal life, therefore making them more of memorizing machines focused intently on getting that grade instead of curious children diligently seeking information to better themselves. Learning should not begin and end at the door. You should be teaching your children skills that they need to learn, to be curious, to be self-disciplined, to ask the right questions to get the desired answers--NOT teaching them to be silenced, listening only, and regurgitating YOUR facts on the test. Therefore, I intend on being a teacher who breaks the mold that is traditional expectations for students. I want my students to talk back to me. I want them to say, "I disagree." These are not challenges but opportunities for me to actually do what tax payer's pay for me to do--teach. I want my students to feel as though they are individuals, able to express themselves, unafraid of people who look down on them for their age. I believe that once we treat children like sophisticated individuals capable of making the right choices, everything else will fall into place...no line leader or bubble mouth needed!