Proposal

Angela Spilker

Dr. Shutkin

ED 100           

20 November 2015

Proposal

            Everyone has that one special teacher that made a large impact on them. For some reason when students look back on high school they can immediately pin point their favorite teacher and rattle off reasons as to why they impacted them. For me it was my contemporary issues teacher, Ms. Forshey. At the time I was in her class, I did not realize how much I was learning. One of the most important lessons she taught me was to challenge the world, never settle, and to work for others. She is the most selfless person I have ever met and I aspire to be like her one day. In and out of the classroom she was caring for her students and I can honestly say she would do anything for them. I admire her so much and hope to be half as good as a teacher that she is. Ms. Forshey was the perfect balance between being a teacher, being a friend, and being someone I could look up to. Everyone respected her and knew she was very wise. She quit a very prestigious job in DC, working for the president, to be a teacher. I think that alone shows how dedicated she is to teaching and that she is in the field for the right reasons.

            Going into college I knew I wanted to be a science major, but I was unsure of what I wanted to do with it. After taking my freshman general chemistry course with Dr. Heston I knew I wanted to be a high school chemistry. It was a very difficult class, but for some reason I wanted to impress Dr. Heston and do well in her class. Every day when she lectured us she conveyed how much she loved teaching, and that we were the reason she got up and came to work, no other reasons. Not for the research or for the money, for the students. I knew she cared about us and that is the reason she made the class so hard. She wanted us to be challenged and to learn to work for our goals, but also be successful and feel proud of our accomplishments.

            A common theme I have seen through these two educators is caring for students. They taught me more than any textbook could teach me and that is what I believe in. I think it takes a special kind of teacher to care so deeply about their students that they secretly teach them life lessons. I knew that both of these teachers were there for me on a personal level, but I also respected them. I believe that teachers need to be caring and passionate, but also earn the respect of their students.

            The problem with education is people are in it for the wrong reasons. They think it is an easy job with the summers off. This mindset and attitude is reflected in the classroom. They are not passionate about it and do not care for the students as much as the students need to be cared for. If a student sees that a teacher cares, they will feel inspired to earn their respect and work hard in their class. Some teachers are not passionate about their subject and it shows when they are not happy to be in the classroom. If a teacher does not have the motivation to teach, the students will see that and have no reason to want to learn. Instead of teachers like this, we need teachers like Ms. Forshey and Dr. Heston. We need teachers who care about their students, are passionate about the subject they are teaching, and truly want to be working in the classroom.