Reading articles such as the one written by Kathleen F. Clark gets me incredibly excited about teaching children to read. I look forward to teaching a child how to read and walk them through the steps that come with being more of an avid reader. Walking a child through a monumental and life changing feat such as reading should be viewed as an honor by any educator who is blessed with this experience.
This does not pertain to reading, but the first time I knew I wanted to be a teacher was when I taught one of the children in my special education peer tutoring class how to count money. We worked on it all semester and by the time the semester was over, he was able to count back money to me as high as fifty dollars! Teaching something to someone else was such a monumental moment and left a lifelong impression on me. Even after teaching him such a small task like how to count money, I knew that being a teacher was what I wanted to be.
I love your experience with that child learning to count money! I had the same experience in my Education 100 class. At first, the 2 children I tutored could not read at all and they had trouble even knowing what their letters were. By the end of the semester, both read a small book about soccer that they LOVED and every day when I walked in they begged me to read it! Seeing them so proud of themselves was the best thing I've ever experienced. I cannot wait to have these experiences every day in our classrooms!
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love being a part of an "aha moment" with a child. Although teaching is difficult, these moments always helped me stay focused on what is important-- helping the child progress.
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate to you and your experience when a child grasps what you have been teaching them. There is truly nothing like it. Its those moments that make all the hard work worth it!!!
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