Amberlee Lively

Roster #11

Personal Education Philosophy of Myself

I have always joked that teaching runs in my blood. My aunt is a dance teacher and the

varsity dance coach at Green Valley High School. My uncle, her husband, is a special education

mathematics teacher and the varsity baseball coach at the same school. I have another uncle who

is a substitute teacher and varsity baseball coach at Silverado High School. And then my mother

is a National Board Certified, fifth-grade teacher at Vanderburg Elementary School. I spent my

whole life going to school with my mom. I practically packed breakfast, lunch, and dinner, when

I went to school with her. We would arrive so early in the morning and stay until nighttime

grading papers, writing lesson plans, and decorating bulletin boards. Summers were spent at the

school, either painting the walls or decorating for the next year. My mom always wanted to do a

new theme every year, so we would go to the store and get posters and supplies to redecorate her

classroom. In the summer, when no one else was in the school, I remember riding my skateboard

through the halls with some of the other teacher’s kids. Growing up surrounded by education, I

naturally enjoyed school. I loved getting school supplies, taking notes, and doing my homework,

so I was the classic “teacher’s pet” throughout elementary, middle, and high school.

I always had a lot of ideas about what I wanted to do with my life. I primarily considered

careers in the medical field or in engineering. Until more recently, I never really considered

teaching as a career option. When I really began to reflect on what it is that makes me happy, and

what it is I care about, I was driven towards education. I spent two class periods my junior year

of high school as a student aide for a ninth grade English class, and a student aide in a special

education class. Working with the students in these classes is when I truly found a passion for
teaching. In the English class, the teacher often let me walk around the room and help the

students revise and edit their papers. She even let me give a presentation about one of the AP

classes I was taking, in an attempt to get some of her students to enroll in it the next school year.

In the special education classroom, I feel as though I really made a difference, and I went on to

be the President of “Patriot Pals,” which was my high school’s version of the “Best Buddies”

club. These experiences helped me see the real difference that I could make in the world as an

educator.

In the next five years, I plan on finishing my Associate’s Degree and my Bachelor’s

Degrees. By then, I will have completed all of my in-person training and student-teaching.

Hopefully, since I am a little bit ahead with my education at the moment, I will be just starting

out as a teacher within four to five years. I hope to be teaching high school English or History.

As a student, those are my favorite subjects, and ones that I feel I could make the most difference

in. My proudest accomplishment as a student was in my AP U.S. History class. It was a very

difficult class for me. I would spend hours studying just to get low scores on tests and quizzes. I

did not understand the content, and I was struggling to remember all of the dates and historical

figures that we needed to know. One day, my teacher told me to think of history like a book or a

movie. They both have an exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and conclusion. From

then on, I started thinking of the historical figures as characters in a book, and the battles and

wars and things as different conflicts or events in the story. In changing my perspective, I started

getting much better scores in the class, and I started actually understanding the content. I worked

so hard for the rest of the year, and it all paid off when I got a five on the AP test that year.

As a student, I am a visual learner. I can look at something or read something over a few

times and I can remember it quickly. Oftentimes, it is hard for me to comprehend verbal
instructions, so I prefer having prompts or instructions written down. Additionally, I find it hard

to watch videos without the captions on. When I can read the words and watch the video at the

same time, my brain remembers the words by seeing them better than only through hearing them.

Because of this, I struggle with listening to audiobooks. In the past, I have listened to an

audiobook while reading a paper copy of the book at the same time. I also like writing things

down, or copying things in order to help me remember them. Colors are a great way for me to

organize my thoughts and my notes, and I am more likely to remember things when I read them

or write them a few times. Another thing that helps me learn is making flashcards using

notecards and drawing pictures on them.

Looking back at the teachers who have inspired me to pursue a career in education, they

all have very similar traits. My English teacher was very calm and relaxed, however it was clear

when she was serious or when she was mad because it was not very often that she was. My U.S.

History teacher was also very calm, and she was so passionate about the subject that she taught.

Lastly, my mom is incredibly passionate and resilient. I have the unique opportunity of seeing

the “behind the scenes” of being a teacher because of my mom, so I see the stress she is under,

especially this year with distance learning. Looking at all of these traits, I feel as though I will

also be a very passionate teacher. I have a strong love of learning and gaining knowledge, so I

feel I will convey that as a teacher. If I were to describe myself, I am that person no one ever

wants to watch Jeopardy! with because I know most of the answers, or I will randomly tell you a

fun fact about whatever is being talked about. The fact that there is so much knowledge in the

world is such an exciting and scary thing, and therefore I feel that my passion for gaining

knowledge will be clearly expressed.

 I am excited to learn more about my teaching style, because I do not really know what

kind of teacher I will be. Out of the learning styles we have learned about in class and a bit in the

book, I feel like I relate most with the perennialist teacher and the progressive teacher. The

example teacher, Mrs. Rice, reminds me a lot of my English teacher I discussed earlier. She did

not waste any time, and it was very clear that we were there to learn and she was there to teach.

Although this sounds a bit harsh, I feel like it conveys the passion that the teacher had for

education, and for teaching their students. In the example, it stated that Mrs. Rice “becomes very

animated when she talks about the value of the classics to students who are preparing to live as

adults in the twenty-first century.” I also become very animated when I talk about the things I

care a lot about. The progressive teacher, Mr. Rosales, reminded me of my AP U.S. history

teacher. She, too, cared so much about her students and worked hard to create unique

relationships with each one of us. I think I will mostly be a progressive teacher because I think it

is important to give students freedom, as well as “bring textbook knowledge to life,” just like Mr.

Rosales does.

Thus far in the course, I have learned so much about education and its history, as well as

how it can impact the future. In writing my personal reflective definitions, I learned that many

things that I previously thought were concrete are actually very dynamic. For example, learning

is such a fluid term, and it can be defined in various ways. Learning is not a concrete thing, nor is

it a tangible thing, yet as I wrote my definition, I felt as though learning is an active process.

Additionally, the case studies and hypothetical situations have helped me see some of the issues

that exist in education and they have allowed me to ponder solutions for such issues. The case

study that I analyzed, for example, discussed an elementary school principal who was struggling

with student behavior issues, funding issues, overcrowding, and was not getting any support
from the district or the superintendent. It is clear that these issues have some solutions, and

reading the case studies make me feel more confident in my ability to handle similar situations if

they were to occur in my time as a teacher.

I am excited to be beginning my journey as an educator this year. I feel as though

education is very important, and it is essential to have a strong generation of educators to step

into this amazing profession. I have so much respect for teachers and educators because I see

how hard it is, especially seeing how much my mom does. I see how many hours are spent

planning and preparing and crafting perfect lessons to meet the needs of all of her students, and

teachers deserve so much admiration and appreciation. Only after hours of career aptitude tests

and personality assessments, I found that I really do correlate best with the profession I have

been the most exposed to throughout my life. It is clear that all teachers must be resilient and

passionate about what they teach. I cannot wait for the day I have my own classroom in a high

school. I can spend early mornings and late nights in that classroom grading and writing lesson

plans and decorating bulletin boards just like my mom and I did in her classroom.