JOURNEY TO TEACHING and GOALS

My Aunt and cousin both taught in Lee County, my aunt taught 5^th grade and my cousin taught kindergarten before going into administration.  I also have an Aunt who taught middle school in New York and my mother although she working in the field of banking always taught college courses.  Having been surrounded by teachers my entire life I always knew I wanted to someday become a teacher.
 
Although I found myself on a different path I have always sought out opportunities where I could work with children throughout the years.  I enrolled my oldest daughter in pop warner cheerleading when she was 5 not knowing how much it would become a part of my life and soon found myself in roles as team mom, coach and board member.  It was a few years into my education when I was able to really have my first classroom experiences not as a parent but as an educator and loved every minute of it.  I also got a crash course into what teaching will actually be like when I took over a classroom as a substitute for 8 weeks. Albeit a challenging experience I don’t think I wasn’t quite prepared for I learned a lot and it really helped solidify my decision to become a teacher.  It really is exciting to see the lights go on in a child’s eyes when they become excited about a lesson and start to understand what they are learning. 

I’m not sure what my long term goals are at this time, I have considered counseling or some role where I can spend more one on one time with students.  For now I am looking forward to spending a few years in the general education classroom.  I would like to work in 2nd-4^th.  While I enjoy the little ones (k-1^st) I’ve found that just their activity levels and attentions spans can make for a very challenging day.