Unlike many others in the vocation of teaching, my original aspirations did not revolve around becoming a teacher. As I grew as a mature person, the many influences in my life directed me toward this path that I have come to love. The many life changing experiences that I have gone through are something that I would like to share with you because they are things that have shaped me and best represent who I am as a teacher.

From the outset, I have come to realize that teaching is what I was  destined for. From early on in life, I have always enjoyed being around children. During  summer breaks from school, I worked as a camp counselor at a Christian camp called Camp Chaleur. There I would learn the responsibilities of taking care of young children, similar to teachers in a classroom. As a counselor, I was to ensure the safety of the children physically and emotionally. I also had to make sure that every child’s needs were met. As I grew older, my desire to be around children did not change. The following summer breaks from school I worked as a minor baseball co-ordinator in the city of Campbellton. Coaching and teaching have a lot of things in common with each other. The sense of pride that a teacher takes in a student when they accomplish some task is similar to the experiences a coach goes through when developing skills in young baseball players. There is no better feeling than the one experienced by helping a child reach their potential whether it is in academics, athletics or in any other field. Whether it’s the successes that you celebrate or the failures that teach life lessons, coaching has allowed me to become a warm nurturing person who is always there to motivate or encourage other children to perform at their very best.

If I were to pick a moment in my life that is the most influential to me becoming a teacher it would be my experience in South Korea. In the summer of 2007, my brother and I travelled to Korea to teach English and to experience a foreign and exciting new culture. Initially we only intended to remain there for a year, but teaching and the country itself really grew on the both of us.  It was through my teaching in South Korea that I have developed and attained many skills that are attributed to good teaching. First, I learned the value of a professional learning community. While teaching, we were encouraged to work in groups, to provide the best learning environments for all students. Whenever big events came along, teachers worked together in groups to get things accomplished quickly and efficiently. Like so many other people who go to Korea to teach English, I had no formal education on how to actually teach. In order to make us classroom ready, we were assigned an experienced Korean co-partner that would help us become better teachers. Through collaborating with my Korean co-partner I learned the benefits of teamwork within a professional community. As the years went by, I took on a greater leadership role at the school I was working at. Every year, a group of new foreign teachers would arrive and it would be my responsibility to pass on the knowledge that I have learned and provide them with the basic skills on how teach in an ESL classroom. Through the year I would help them develop as ESL teachers and always provide advice on where they could improve. Being a teacher in South Korea also allowed me to develop my interpersonal skills with co-workers and parents. Each week I was responsible for writing a weekly newsletter to keep parents informed on upcoming activities and events. I was also in constant contact with students and parents via weekly phone conversations. These experiences have allowed me to become familiar with the importance of communication between teachers and parents for student learning. Finally, the greatest skill I have developed while teaching in Korea is the ability to be a motivator to my students. What you often find when children learn another language is disinterest. However, I was capable of making learning English very enjoyable by putting it into context or by relating it to different learning styles in the classroom.

Many people can bare witness to having at least one teacher make an impressionable mark on their lives, and I am no exception. I can still vividly picture my high school French immersion teacher in my mind as I write these words to paper. He was a very outspoken person who was so passionate about teaching Canadian and world history. He taught history like a great storyteller would, making the words in our textbook spring to life. He made learning history an incredible experience that I still enjoy to this day. If I only knew so long ago that it would be him that I would strive to emulate I would have thanked him. What I learned from his experiences in the classroom is that it is up to the teacher to make students intrinsically motivated to learn and as I moved long this journey that is what I plan on doing for my future students.