Why I chose education

I’ve been in education for 6 going on 7 years (I think…it all squishes together). First, working as a elementary teacher and now working as a School Readiness Coach/Mentor for preschool teachers. I wanted to be in education because I wanted people who looked like me to be represented. I wanted my family to see that we can do it, we can graduate college and I can get a job in the field I spend studying.

As I started teaching, I started to really realize that all walks of people need to be represented in all work forces, but I’m glad I chose teaching to show me. Parents in my community were drawn to me because I wasn’t someone who was the know all of elementary ed, but I was a real ass person just doing my best to teach their kiddos and support them where needed. I also wanted my kids to look up to me…to know that you can look how you wanna look, be you, and still be a bad ass professional. I also wanted to teach my kiddos to be good humans…accepting differences and being “weird” was cool. I mean their teacher Mr. R was the only teacher with visible tattoos who was real when he needed to be, and funny. It didn’t hurt that Isaac bled into the classroom, meaning I wouldn’t bring normal school treats (like fruit snacks, pretzels and what not), but I would bring chips and my favorite snacks…not healthy lol, but also I feel like I normalized things they thought was weird.

In my first year teaching (fifth grade) I had a super smart kiddo who thought she couldn’t show her smartness because she would be made fun of, but she wrote me a letter and told me that me telling her and the class that she could “do it in her sleep” (referring to topics she grasped easily) and that “I would be her best friend” made her feel that being smart was something to be proud of and that it’s ok to show it off and be a mini bad ass.

Anyways, I teach for the kiddos like me….the kids that needed a good male figure in their life…one who doesn’t fit the mold of a typical teacher in my area