What makes you marketable as a teacher? Why should a district hire you over someone else?
As a fellow blogger pointed out, this is a difficult question to answer. We are taught not to brag, and by answering this question it definitely feels like bragging. However, I felt that it was an important question to think about. First of all, it forces me to think about what I bring to the table. Second of all, it is a question that I will be asked in an interview, and I need to know the answer if I hope to be the chosen applicant. With that being said, I think there are various aspects about myself that are marketable.
I have worked hard to gain experience in the educational setting as a college student. I have been a tutor on campus and off campus since my second semester of school. Here, I have easily dedicated 8-10 hours a week to tutoring students in mathematics and physics. On campus I have tutored students of various backgrounds with and without disabilities one and one. I have also lead group tutoring sessions for mathematics since I began tutoring. Off campus, what began as a practicum experience continued as a volunteer activity throughout the semester. Although this isn't teaching as a whole, I believe tutoring is a huge step in the right direction. Not only have I developed my patience and understanding for math students, but I have also developed numerous tricks and better descriptions when teaching different concepts. I believe I have grown greatly as a preservice teacher through tutoring.
As a preservice teacher, I have taken my education courses seriously. I have witnessed many of my classmates saying how they think that a lot of what we learn is just not applicable, especially in respect to mathematics. I disagree. When I was in high school, my math and physics classes were essentially drill and practice. I am so excited to make my classroom hands-on, hearts-on, and heads-on (to quote Dr. Perry Cook). I expect to incorporate new and exciting strategies in my classroom. I also expect to be a life-time learner. By doing so, I will continue to make my classroom a room my students want to be in as well as a room they will learn in.
As a person, I am a hard worker. I take my job very seriously; however, I like to have fun as well. I believe I am a natural leader. I am willing to listen to other's ideas and suggestions to make myself a better person as well as a better teacher. I believe these are incredibly important traits to possess in any career, but they are especially important as a teacher. You need to be flexible, but strong. I can't imagine a more difficult career, but I also can't imagine a more rewarding job. I am ready for the challenge.
2 comments:
First off, I want to commend you for being able to look within and tell us why you will make a great teacher. We've grown up being told not to brag or show-off, but in our competitive society, we need to be able to show potential employers why we're the best candidate for the job.
I find the amount of volunteer work you do to be admirable. It's also great practice for the teaching world, since we often volunteer extra hours to help our students.
You mentioned that you tutor some students with disabilities . What do you think is the single most important thing you have learned from that experience? We aren't usually presented with many opportunities to work with special needs children until we student teach or already have a job. I think that the experiences you have had teaching them now will definitely aid in your marketablility.
I think you make it very clear that you want to be a teacher for the right reasons and that you are ready for the challenges ahead. It's good to be prepared for those challenges, since not every day of teaching goes as smoothly as we have planned :).
I agree with you in that talking about what we are good at and why we would be good at something is a very difficult thing to do. But posting this topic will help us for future interviews and really make us look inside ourselves and figure out why we would be good at teaching. I feel all of your tutoring will be very beneficial for you. The experiences will have given you more hands-on experience and new techniques to teach to your future students. I loved your quote about hands-on, hearts-on, heads-on. I feel that will get you very far as being a great math teacher. You have a very good plan of how you want to teach your students and I wish you the best of luck in your future!!:)
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