Why I Became An Educator? What Legacy?

 

 

Why did I become an educator??

I was actually going to be a Commercial Artist and worked briefly in the industry. At that time it was a field that few women were working in and an adventure in itself. However, I found that there was very little opportunity to create. I painted huge murals on buildings, trucks, windows, and even created and screened museum exhibits. After a awhile, every street I drove down had some of my work on display and every piece of clothing I owned had paint on it somewhere.  But..I was always producing someone else's creations.

 Next came Computer programming and I enrolled in Computer Science. I took an elective course in education and the rest fell into place.

Opportunities to create abounded. One of the best parts of teaching is being able to create a space where learning is an adventure. Every September is a new beginning. Every year has its own challenges and rewards.  Creating activities and opportunities to challenge and inspire my students and then watching them surpass my them is always rewarding. Every new project we take on inspires new ones.

I enjoy working with children, and each year they become mine, but for me it is the way a classroom takes on a life of its own.


What legacy do I want to leave behind? 

 That is harder. I have never thought of teaching in those terms. I  have always been passionate about integrating technology and have spent many years striving to do so. I want the world to see elementary school students as the powerhouses they are. Too may times we underestimate their abilities. I have heard:  the children are too young to learn how to save their work, or how to logon to their accounts, or that they don't need the computing capacity of older students because they only write short stories. I would like the world to see that these kids are fearless, quick to learn and capable of taking on many of the challenges we assume only much older students can do.

 I would like my teaching legacy to be that I have shown my students, and the world what amazing things they are capable of.  I want them to believe they can do it all. I want to open your eyes and make you understand that too.