Education

disclaimer...This post contains lots of opinions and might possibly be boring to those of you who don't care about my opinions or the education system.

On the 7th, I found that I was accepted into the teacher education program at UK. The application took a long time and I was very nervous, mostly because I did not have a back up plan, but I can give a huge sigh of relief now. My life has a direction, a plan, and it feels so good. I am beyond excited to begin my in depth education classes and to work hard towards being the best teacher I can be. I already have my schedule mapped out for the next 3 semesters. Yes, I did say 3. I plan on graduating a semester early to save money and time. So, in about a year and half, I will be a certified elementary school teacher, and I could not be more excited. Often when I tell people what I plan on doing with my life, I get one of three different responses. The first one being, "You will be such a great teacher!" This, obviously, is the one I prefer. The second one is, "Oh I could never do that, I don't have enough patience." This one bugs me a little bit, because some people are under the impression that teaching requires babysitting skills when it is so much more then that. Third, and my personal favorite(not), "Well you won't make much money doing that. Have you thought about that?" People tell me this like I am unaware of how much a teacher makes. Friends, blog stalkers, I am here to tell you that I do, in fact, know exactly how much a teacher makes. I did not decided to be a teacher because I thought the salary was great, it would be an easy major, or because I thought that I could just get tenure, slack off, and never be fired. I chose to do this after much consideration and soul searching, because I honestly and wholeheartedly want to teach. Nothing more, nothing less. I want to set a foundation for young children and instill in them a passion for learning. I want to change the lives of students and make an impact on the education system. I'm not in it for the money, if I was I could have chosen many other majors and been just fine.When I thought about which career path I should pursue, I realized that in order to be happy,I needed to find something that I would enjoy doing everyday for a long time. Even though there will be days that I will go home in tears or want to give up, I know that I will always enjoy it and in the end it will be very rewarding.

This semester, I am taking a class called Education in American Culture. It has been, with out a doubt, my favorite class at UK so far. This class is for one, organized completely differently than your average class. There are no tests, no meticulous note taking, or busy work. This class is a interactive, debate driven class, set up for students to learn about education in our country through conversation. We are given articles to read and topics to think about, and then, we discuss our opinions in class. I have learned so many valuable things and my passion for education has grown tremendously. I think more classes should be set up this way. Anyway, in this class we watched Waiting for Superman. I highly recommend it. So go to redbox or netflix and get it right away! You won't be sorry. This documentary is sad, but very enlightening and very well done. It shows the overabundance of issues in our education system. It focuses on charter schools and failing school districts and how much kids suffer because of the quality of our schools and the opportunities that are absent in lives of some children. It also sheds light on the problem of the quality of teachers. Teacher's unions and the tenure system do not allow schools to have the best quality teachers possible. This issue is screaming for reform, and someone needs to do something. While watching this movie, I realized that I honestly do care about education. Not only do I want to do my part by being the best teacher I can be, I want to bring reform to the education system. This may be a lofty goal, but I hope I can somehow do something to help the nation's education system is some way, shape or form. For now, all I can do is look into my options and be as knowledgeable as possible.

So here is to all of the wonderful teachers that I have had and to those teachers out there who are striving to be the best they can be. I encourage everyone to do their part when it comes to their child's education. Go to education board meetings, know what's going on in their school, volunteer. Education is so important to every child's future and the future of our nation.

until next time