My name is Michelle and I am from Taiwan. I am trilingual with the ability to speak Chinese, Taiwanese, and English. My dream job is to be an elementary teacher, preferably Kindergarten. I would like to use the gift that I have to teach Chinese here, since many Utah schools are encouraging Mandarin to be taught concurrently in elementary schools through the Dual Language Immersion Program. I believe this will be an amazing opportunity for me.
I am currently attending school at the University of Utah, because I hope to become a qualified teacher who is officially certified and recognized as being trained to perform an educational job. A lot of times, most people think that everybody in a sense can be a teacher if they have knowledge in a certain area. However, good teachers are gladly willing to share it and know how to explain it. Also good teachers need to have compassion and patience when needed. “Teachers with a high sense of efficacy work harder and persist longer even when students are difficult to teach, in part because these teachers believe in themselves and in their students. Also, they are less like to experience burnout and more likely to be satisfied with their jobs” (Five, Hamman, & Olivarez, 2005; Klassen & Chiu, 2010). I think being a qualified teacher is not necessarily limited to a specific type of person. There are many different people with many different interests and abilities who could succeed in this field. One common trait of good teachers is that they are committed to their students from the first day of class. All teachers should learn and understand their students’ background, circumstance, individual needs, and learning habits to be able to provide better education. In addition, we should not let our own experiences or background affect our attitude with children or their educational goals. We should treat all students with equal respect, because every child is unique and special. They may have diverse learning abilities and development approaches, but should be treated in a personal, individual manner. Along with quality education, qualified teachers should be able to work together with school administrators to provide additional help to students and families to form connections by learning to value and respect their backgrounds. This will break the barrier and build up the parent, teacher, and child relationship. As teachers, we should create an atmosphere that is willing to accept diversity and can make newcomers feel at ease in the new setting. It is important to not make any assumptions or judgments about a family’s cultural background, priorities, or resources, but instead, care about the student enough to learn and understand the students’ circumstance, individual needs, and learning habits to be able to provide better education. |