Running Head: Autobiographical Essay 1

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Running head: AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY 1

Autobiographical Essay

Tanya Tellez

Carol Billing

EDUC 201 Foundations of Education

Spring 2017
Introduction

Becoming an educator is something I have always wanted to do. The teachers I have had

throughout my education are part of the reason I want to become one myself. They always made

sure we were learning, and some even made going to school enjoyable. I want to be part of the

reason for children's education. I believe I have acquired good experience and background to go

further into my journey of becoming an educator.

Educational Background

I started school knowing very little English even though my older siblings spoke it in the

house all the time. I don’t think I went to preschool, I really don’t know or remember. I went to

Central Canyon Elementary for kindergarten and around February in first grade I moved to West

Canyon Elementary. I went to summer school most of my grade school years through a migrant

program my school district had. I honestly really don’t remember much from elementary, but

summer school always made me enjoy school more. They taught us but also had a lot of fun in

the process, we did a lot more activities and also went on a field trip at the end.

I always stayed in the Vallivue School District. I went to Vallivue Middle School and

then went on to Vallivue High School. I always had A’s and B’s until sophomore year, I think

that’s when I got my first C, but I still tried to maintain good grades. I was really artistic in high

school, I was always in an art class and choir, but my senior year I decided to cut my electives

out of my schedule in order to get home release.

Some of the teachers I’ve had have been a contribution to my development as a

professional educator because of the way they impacted my education. A lot of my teachers

taught in a way that got me to participate and actually try hard, and some of them made it

difficult for me to enjoy class. I think that sometimes the work effort and attention students have
depends a lot on the teacher. My experiences from that have made me want to lean towards

becoming a teacher because I want to make sure kids have the motivation to put effort in and to

actually want to work hard. I think that having the teachers I’ve thought were great, will help me

become the teacher my future students will have motivation from. Another contribution I had

that was the final push into pursuing a career as an educator was my job. In September of 2015 I

got hired into the Vallivue School District just a couple months after graduating high school, and

in January of 2016 I got hired at another one of the elementary schools in Vallivue as the

kindergarten aide. I really enjoy working with children and would love to turn it into my career

as a teacher.

Work History Service and/or Extra Curricular Activities

My sophomore and junior year I volunteered for the same Migrant Summer School

program that I attended to as a child. The first year I was helping in the kindergarten class, and

the second year I was in the third/fourth grade classroom. Luckily, I was assigned to the same

teacher both years so I got to learn a lot from her. Volunteering was such a great experience for

me and I wish I would’ve started volunteering sooner.

I spent my senior year of high school babysitting my niece, little brother, and baby

nephew. I got paid for babysitting them since my mom and sister needed a babysitter and it kept

me from having a real job. I learned a lot more about how kids think and act during certain

situations and ages. I never really paid attention to those kinds of things until I started having to

actually take care of the children. I also learned that kids really need a lot of care and attention.

Having to babysit a lot helped me have more patience with kids and learn how to react to their

behaviors at times.
Babysitting also prepared me for the job I had after that and the one I have now. I started

working as an inside lunch duty the following year. I worked at West Canyon Elementary

School, the same school I went to as a child. Having more than 300 students in a cafeteria all at

once can get really crazy. It was really hard for me to keep it under control at first and I didn’t

like being loud to them. I was so used to having small kids around and I felt as if I was being

mean if I yelled. After a while I learned to be firm and manage them, it wasn’t so hard for me

after that. All of the students still liked me even if I had to be a little strict at times. I learned that

in order to have things under control I had to be firm when it was needed. I think that is

something I will need to remember when I become a teacher.

Today I work at East Canyon Elementary School as an extended kindergarten aide and it

has really helped me a lot. I’ve been learning so much from working there and I get more of an

inside look at what it’s like being a teacher. I’m really grateful to get the opportunity to have this

job, which I actually enjoy. It has taught me how to become a better fit for the teaching

profession and the teachers I work with are very helpful. This job that I currently have has really

been a contribution in my development for the career path I am choosing.

Ethical Reasoning in Education

Keeping up with all the students in a classroom must be difficult for teachers. Some

students may get bored because they are so far ahead, and others may be so far behind that they

stop paying attention. Throughout my time in school and at work, I have seen this happen and

noticed what the teachers do to approach the situation and handle it.

When I was in school, I would notice how some teachers seemed to avoid calling on a

student who they knew was falling behind, maybe they didn’t want to put them on the spot or

they wanted to move on faster with the lesson. I would also notice when they would avoid
passing by a certain student’s desk when walking around the room, I am not sure if this was on

purpose or if they just thought it would slow everyone down if they had to stop to give that

student help.

Teachers might not mean to do this, but I think a good solution to make sure students are

not falling behind would be to give them extra time during lunch or recess to help them. During

my observations for the field experience course, I saw a couple struggling students in the class I

was observing. The teacher would try to answer all the questions she could, but if she was

running out of time she would tell those specific students to come in during lunch recess so she

could help them with what they were struggling with. I admired that she didn’t skip over them

and let them fall behind, instead she made sure they understood the lesson.

Considerations for Choosing Education as a Career

As many little girls say they want to become a teacher when they grow up, I did too.

Working with children is something I always wanted to do. I had two career choices in mind,

pediatrician and teacher. Throughout my own education I had kept changing my mind back and

forth through the both of them. I really wanted to work with children, but I also wanted to be

something in the medical field, so I thought being a pediatrician would be a perfect fit for me.

After a while I realized that anything relating to blood was definitely not my thing. I really

cannot stand having to look at a person who’s been injured, it seemed so easy on doctor TV

shows, but it is completely different in person.

My experience volunteering at the summer school really guided me into choosing

education as my career. I really enjoyed helping the kids learn and it was really fun. It gave me a

bit of an insight of what it is like to be a teacher, even though I was only an aide. I am hoping to

get a position for it in the summer now that I am actually working in the district. I enjoyed it so
much that I wanted to keep volunteering, but I was really disappointed to learn that I was not

allowed to volunteer anymore after graduating. I think getting the chance to be a part of that is

also influenced my decision of what grade I would prefer to teach. Working with the

kindergarteners was fun, but working with the third and fourth graders was even better. They

really understand a lot of the concepts already, and I enjoyed being able to just flow through it.

On the other hand, kindergarteners are still very little and still need a lot of help understanding

the simpler concepts. During the time that I spent volunteering, working with the kindergarteners

was a bit tedious as some of them needed help with writing their own name. But last year, when I

started actually working in a school, I learned a lot about how to help the younger students, and it

became easier and more enjoyable. I look forward to complete my own education, to be able to

be a part of someone else’s education.

Professional Goals

My process for achieving my long term goals may be a bit slow. I want to become a third

grade level or lower teacher later on. I don’t want to overwhelm myself with work and school.

Getting my elementary education degree will take some time, longer than expected. I will only

be taking a few classes at a time until I work on my time management a little more because to be

honest, I am not the best at it. I would want to keep the job I have now until I am qualified to

move onto a higher position in the school I work at.

One of my short term goals is getting a position in the migrant summer school program

here in the Vallivue School District. It would add more to my experience and I think it would be

fun. I also want to gain more knowledge through the teachers I work with and through my job.

Having the job I have now will help me achieve my long term goals, it will help me look into

more and observe what it would be like to work in a school and be a teacher.

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