Given to the 305 Board of Education and those invovled with the LIFT scholarship in April 2007.
Given the chance to speak before my future employers, my family, and those who have helped make me able to walk this path of teaching, it took me awhile to decide what I would say. I could speak about my past, all the wonderful opportunities and experiences I was enriched by in Salina, the way I felt Bethany has prepared me for the next step in my life, or the upcoming challenges I will face as a teacher. I settled on a topic that I believe will be a cornerstone in my teaching philosophy: the necessity of an open hope.
Open hope might seem like an odd phrase, so I will help you understand what I mean. By hope I mean optimism. Faith in the student, the system, and my own abilities. A persistent adamant endurance in believing I can make an impact, and with that positive impact on their lives my students will make a difference. By open I mean that this hope, while persistent, should never be dogmatic. In hoping for positive impact, I need to open to the many unpredictable ways impact will be made on both the students and myself. Then in being open, I cannot predict what differences my students will make, and it is not my job to mould their future world. Instead my hope will be an enabler to my students, equipping them to confront and transform a world beyond any rational conceptualization. In having an open hope I will not take the students hand and pull them through my class, I will instead open a door and give the bright light of optimism not only through the door, but if I do my job as desired, also illuminating hope in windows I myself cannot see.
I chose to teach English because the subject itself carries a certain mystique for me. Inside any story are multiple histories of character, author, and reader. The house of literature is built with many entrances and exists, and each reader will find a different point of interest stemming from their own multiple histories and perspective. Through literature a reader, student or teacher, can find enlightenment on the hidden recesses of themselves and decode future potentialities that would be lost without the journey of reading discovery. Reading is a journey of the mind, and I await the day when I can ask my student to go farther into the text, deeper into the symbolism, think critically about issues that matter to their own individual lives.
Not only will I be inviting students to discover literature, but I will be able to equip with the lifelong skills of grammar, careful reading, and the ability to express themselves clearly. No student should enter the after high school world feeling unable to discern the language around them. Too much of the world relies on linguistic communication for me to not give my full effort in preparing my students to be able to think, question, and reason in the English language.
As a teacher I will get enjoyment out of working with literary texts, and I will benefit my students as good citizens by enhancing their language skills, but the biggest and most important aspect of my position as a teacher will be that I foster in my students a desire to learn; that in my class they find the need to question, and that by my open hope and encouragement they find themselves willing to think deeply about the world around them and question where meaning is, what their place is, and what they can do to make a positive impact on their surroundings.
I am very grateful for the Salina Education Foundation and the Loan Initiative for Future Teachers. I am excited about the opportunity to return to USD 305 and teach. My mind has been swirling blissfully chaotic around the amazing range of possibilities ahead of me. I’d like to thank my teachers for preparing me with challenging assignments, encouraging comments in non-red pen, and the faith that I can succeed in my dreams. I thank Daniel for having the patience to put up with my busy schedule and the amazing supportive love that is always there for me. Most of all I thank my parents for raising me with more love than discipline, more freedom then punishment, and more blessings then I could ever return. I owe all the good things I am lucky enough to get to the wonderful job you did in raising your children. Thank you all and I am looking forward to the day I step in the classroom as an educator for USD 305.
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