I was very accomplished growing up. I made good grades in school, I was respectful, I did extracurricular activities, won many awards, and received lots of recognition. School came naturally to me, and  I had a strong academic career. I could have gone into the medical field and done well like everyone had expected of me, but I did not find the value in it. I remember classmates being surprised when I told them of my ambitions. Despite their arguments, I never swayed from my goal.

    The reason why I choose this path is largely because of the fact that I value education. I believe that knowledge is the most powerful tool anyone can have. Children who find the value in learning will take advantage of it and become successful in whatever they do in their future. However, the students who do not understand the power of it will not be motivated to do their best in the classroom. My goal as a teacher is spark a student’s passion for knowing and understanding.

    One of the biggest issues that concerns me is the decline of interest in the sciences. Students have been shown to lose interest in science after elementary school, and this is especially true for females. A lot of children will say that they do not enjoy science because it is too difficult for them. Many of my peers would even agree that Physics is a daunting study. As a future educator, this is an issue that frustrates me. Sometimes I wonder how people could have such an immense fear of learning. One of my main objectives as a teacher is to always make sure that my students are curious and confident in their abilities. I want all students to understand that learning is not measured by a success rate. Learning is being exposed to, understanding, and questioning new ideas and concepts. It also consists of making mistakes and growing from them.    As I have mentioned before, teachers must motivate their students. This is an idea that I am most passionate about personally. From the perspective of a student and an instructor, I have seen many different types of students with various attitudes toward education. It is the role of the teacher to make sure all students are finding value in the things they are learning and enjoy discovering new things each day. I hope to be the teacher that students remember as having interesting, interactive, and memorable lessons. I want my students to talk about and share what they learned and did in class to everyone they know. I want students to brag about how well they are reading, all of the math problems they can solve, and how confident they are in their problem solving skills. I must be attentive to what my students need in order to accomplish these goals. I must motivate them to be their best, and I must be knowledgeable or have access to the knowledge that the students need to be successful learners.

     There is a term for what I want for my students, and that is "growth mindset". I mentioned before that motivating students is essential, but I have not yet clarified how to do so. How can I push my students to do their best each and every day? This question was answered in an article I read in one of my classes at UT by Carol Dweck. Deck says in her article, “One way to create such a culture is by providing the right kinds of praise and encouragement. My research has shown that praising students for the process they have engaged in—the effort they applied,the strategies they used, the choices they made, the persistence they displayed, and so on—yields more long-term benefits than telling them they are ‘smart’ when they succeed”. Being specific with praise is not something that seems critical to learning, but it came as a surprise to me that one small adjustment to the way teachers’ praise students can motivate them to do so much more.