Coming into college I had no idea what I wanted to be when I graduated or what I wanted to study in between then.
I knew I loved fashion, makeup, and lifestyle things but at the end of the day, kids were my calling. I grew up babysitting on the weekends, nannying during the summers, and working as a camp counselor to a bunch of kiddos.
I realized that teaching was where I should be, after walking into an education meeting on accident. I then spent time looking at career paths, thinking about primary or secondary education, and reflecting on my experience in education. I have always enjoyed school, I got decent grades (except in math lol) and participated in extra curricular activities. I realized early on that primary education was where I am destined to teach.
HOWEVER, I am in college. I am at a college then values Engineering over most majors. I know, I know, some of you are thinking.....no??? But the College of Education here at school is small, roughly 35 kids in primary! Which means we are a close college but it also means we are not as valued as the hundreds of engineers floating around here.
So to swing back around to "What it's like to study Elementary Education when everyone else is Engineers..."
-It is long hours spent at schools learning, observing, teaching, interacting, and understanding children.
-It is learning the endless Common Core Standards and regulations.
-It is understanding the different laws and regulations people fought for in order to have full inclusion for children who have exceptional needs.
-It is then working with those children and watching them excel in the general education classroom.
-Its learning that you don't call those types of classrooms "normal" because there is NO SUCH THING as a NORMAL classroom.
-It is learning that you can add, subtract, multiply, and divide in a million different ways AND having to be prepared to teach all of them.
-It is spending HOURS on a lesson plan that you may only teach once.
-It is getting your flu shot early so you are ready for the waves of sick kiddos in the winter.
-It is being only a junior in college but already looking at volunteer things to do over the summer once you are working.
-It is learning that you are a teacher but you are also someone the children love and look up too.
-It is not calling them "boys" and "girls" because gender is so fluid and unknown these days. They are "friends", "students", "buddies".
-It is knowing that sharing your snack with a student may be the only thing they eat until breakfast tomorrow.
-It is spending time testing, assessing, and learning about students so you can find out what they understand, what you have to teach, AND finding a way to mix all their understanding into one lesson.
-It is learning that you can mix MATH and ENGLISH into one cohesive lesson because school is fluid and learning is endless.
-It is picking out "teacher" clothes to wear because business clothes do not cut it in a first grade classroom.
-It is also knowing money will be tight and scare for a while because you do not go into teaching for the money.
-It is learning your aunt was a teacher for years and is finally going back to teach again but still giving you all her old teaching things.
-It is knowing that every day you step into the classroom YOU are making a difference in a students life.
Yea, I will not be creating prosthetics, building towers, or wiring a computer but I am giving children the foundation they need to someday do those amazing things. So next time you tell someone that Education is an easy major, think about what your saying. YOU would not be where you are today without your first grade teacher explaining how to read or your 8th grade science teacher showing you how to mix chemicals. #TeachOn
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