Thoughts on the Reasons Why Teachers Teach

     During this week's  learning module in my education class , I read many papers on the reasons why people decide to become teachers. Although I am not an education major and I am not trying to become a teacher, I still find it very enjoyable to learn the reasons why people want to do certain things with their life and the things that motivate them. The most enjoyable thing that I read during this week was Herbert Kohl's article Why Teach. This article was influential yet informational at the same time. Kohl said, "Listening carefully and following up on what you hear are skills a teacher has to cultivate" (25). After I read this quote I thought about it for a while. If a person listens and responds to another person, it shows that one cares.  Also, I can only assume that if I am a teacher and I am continually listening and responding with feedback to my students, they will in one way or another appreciate what we are doing. I a friend who is becoming a teacher and right now she is an assistant teacher for a class for students with special needs. I asked her why she wanted to become a teacher and she told me that she is trying to make a difference in the way that knowledge is attained to kids. She wants to influence kids and make their learning experience fun and memorable. I feel as though if I had that passion that I read about in many articles, I would be ecstatic to become a teacher. I applaud the people in the world who are teachers. They are paid enough for the amount of work that they accomplish and don't nearly receive enough acknowledgment from students, parents, and colleagues.

Introduction to Me!

Hi everyone! My name is Kayla Cragan and I am currently a senior at Salem State University. In the beginning of my college experience I had zero idea as to what I wanted to be when I got older. I came to Salem State undeclared and throughout my first semester decided I wanted to try nursing. Well, let's just say that didn't work out. Then I decided to take a general psychology course and fell in love. I fell in love with the idea that I could help people in times of crisis of their life. Their crisis could be minor or it could be major, it all depends on what would bring them to come to me for help. In my senior year, I've had to think about what areas of psychology that I wanted to work in. I could either teach it academically or work with clients. As I said before, I fell in love with the idea that I could help people. I decided ultimately that I want to have clients. Continually I have asked myself what age group do I want to work with? Do I want to work with females, males, or both? I took a step back and realized that I work amazingly well with younger kids around the elementary age. I decided to take this education class to make sure I wanted to be working with children of this age and to also build my skills up for when I do have clients. I figured that as a clinician, I will need to show my clients certain skills and techniques to make it past an obstacle in life and work through a crisis. Therefore, I need to learn how to teach my clients these skills. I ultimately hope that during this course I am currently taking I will learn some skills to better myself in my career and to assist my clients in time of need.