Why I Want to be a Teacher

I am interested in participating in the Teacher Cadet program for many reasons. The most significant reasons for me are: sixth grade, English I, and Conrack.

Well, to begin with, I never enjoyed school in elementary days; I never understood what the teacher was trying to get me to achieve. I especially despised arithmetic. Then, when I moved up to middle school, I met Mr. Jones, my mathematics teacher. I soon found out that school could be entertaining. Mr. Jones taught math in song with his guitar. It was then that I decided to become an educator and use my outside strengths to make learning a pleasure.

After I reached high school, I was taught English by Mrs. Martin in the ninth grade. I cherished reading the novels and watching the corresponding movies like The Outsiders, Romeo and Juliet, and The Odyssey. The class was enjoyable and I passed it with a 98 year average. The challenge for me was the vocabulary and grammar era because I’m not very high-quality when it comes to punctuation. However, I think that I need to challenge myself in life, so if I teach, I must teach something that was difficult for me to excel in.

Last, but not least, also when I was in the ninth grade, I watched a movie entitled Conrack in my World Geography class. This film is about a gentleman who goes to an all African American island to teach a group of children grades first through sixth all at the same time. When he starts to lecture them, he realizes that the children don’t even know the answer to a question as simple as two and two. Half of them don’t know how to spell their name or know when their birthday is. He realizes that he has to start at the very beginning with them. Within a year, the children go from not knowing anything to recognizing Beethoven’s symphonies. Regrettably, Conrack was fired because of his methods of schooling. The children had grown to love him. They watched him take his leave, and they played a Beethoven symphony for him as he slowly departed. This movie was based on a true story and although it would be hard teaching kids who have grown up as those did, I’d like to try. If I could get the same type of respect from just one of one of my pupils, it would all be worth it.

In conclusion, I would like to be part of the Teacher Cadet program because of my sixth grade year, English I’s content, and the movie that changed my outlook on teaching and life.