My journey into teaching has been a long one. I realized my dream of becoming a teacher many years ago, but life circumstances left neither the time nor the finances to pursue it. Almost five years ago, I was finally able to begin that pursuit when I started taking a few courses at Tidewater Community College. The journey was slow at first, but it quickly picked up speed the moment I enrolled at Regent University.
Attending Regent University has been one of the best decisions that I have made. My professors have exemplified the ideal that Paul set for the Corinthians—to do everything in love (1 Cor. 16:14). They have diligently and lovingly worked to shape me into the teacher that God has called me to be by providing knowledge, wisdom, encouragement, and at times constructive criticism, and they have always done so in a gentle, loving manner. They have provided a model for the type of teacher that I want to be for my own students.
The quality of education that I have received at Regent is unsurpassable. Through my coursework, I have learned the skills necessary to become an educator who not only has a solid base of knowledge in academic subjects, but who is also adept at implementing best teaching practices, effective classroom management techniques, and the latest instructional technology. Furthermore, I have learned how to meet my students’ needs based on who they are as individuals. Because of all I have learned at Regent, I feel confident that I will be able to meet my students right where they are academically, socially, and emotionally, and I will be able to help them grow in all of those areas. Still, there will always be room for my own personal growth.
Although I have been armed with all of the tools necessary to be a successful teacher, I have found that learning how to teach is easier than actually teaching. During my practicums and student teaching experiences, I had many successes thanks to my preparation, but I also had a few failures. I now realize that as a teacher, there will be times when I fail, and that is o.k. as long as I use those failures as stepping stones for success.
There will be days when, despite my best efforts, a student is unreachable. There will be times when I “lose” my students during a lesson or when the classroom is more chaotic than I would like, but I have learned how to reflect on those instances, and instead of becoming discouraged, I use them to better my teaching techniques. As a self-declared perfectionist, this has not been easy for me because I want everything to go correctly the first time, but my student teaching experiences have helped me immensely in this area. Lessons going awry, materials being misplaced, students misbehaving even though they just received encouragement—these happenings are just the reality of teaching, and they provide the opportunity for growth.
Looking back to my first days at Regent, I recall something that happened in one of my classes that provided me with the encouragement I needed to stay on this journey. My professor invited a colleague to our class who delivered a message to me in the form of a folded piece of paper that he placed on my desk as he left that evening. In it, he wrote that God had given him insight about my journey and that I should not worry about finishing my degree. He said that I already had the gift of teaching, and because God had called me to teach and I had answered the call, God would provide the means. This is the only way I can explain how everything has worked out in my favor; there were numerous hurdles along the way that seemed to vanish as quickly as they appeared. I know that I have been given the great responsibility of using my gift—the blessing I have received—to benefit and touch the lives of all students who enter my classroom, and I do not take that responsibility lightly.
The end of my recent journey, my student teaching experience, is chronicled in the pages of this ePortfolio, but I suspect that the real adventure is just about to begin!