As I attempt to gain a position of stability as an English Language Arts instructor, I am besought with challenges. There are too many to list here.
What I want to do for myself is to create a simple picture in my mind of a successful outcome.
Family Well-Being
First of all, the primary goal of any career is to be able to provide an adequately financially stable home for my two children, and for that home to be full of emotional, social, and spiritual well-being.
An Excellent Teacher
The next thing I hope to achieve is to be an excellent teacher.
A Few Teachers From My Life
I had several amazing teachers in my youth. Let’s name a few. My saxophone instructor, Steve Richins, was a remarkable human being. I had the opportunity to sit next to him, once a week, for six years.
While the task at hand was to improve musically, the time he gave also helped me to build confidence in myself and to develop a love for craftsmanship. Through his example, he also taught me of the importance of teaching.
Another amazing instructor I had was Ryan Woodward. I studied the visual arts with him while I was at Brigham Young University.
One happy memory I have with Ryan is how he spent many of his lunch breaks helping me to redraw my drawings from class. On a surface level, in these moments Ryan showed me that by following a few basic principles of design, my rudimentary ideas could gain a professional aura. On another level, Ryan was helping me in a way similar to Steve. He was helping me to believe in myself, and to learn to love my craft.
There are many more teachers I could mention, but I’ll stop there for now.
My Goals as a Teacher
As a teacher, I am hopeful that I can help my students as they search for their own purpose in life.
My primary goal can be summed up in two simple words, “Academic Excellence.”
When I was at Brigham Young University, I remember a story I heard about an interaction between the new head football coach and the university president.
When the two people met for the first time, the eager football coach had a notebook full of goals and plans for how he would achieve them. His efforts were focused around the football team’s performance in the arena and the team’s prestige.
As the coach sat down to have this introductory conversation with the university president, he habitually asked for the president what his thoughts were about what the agenda should be.
The university president shortly replied, “Academic excellence.”
The coach looked at his notes. He quickly realized that in all his efforts to lead his football team to success, he had forgotten that his players were university students, first and foremost. The outcome of their lives would be influenced by their academic performance, perhaps far more than by anything they may achieve on the football field.
The story goes that the football coach put away his notes, kept the meeting brief, retreated to his office, and began his plans anew.
I don’t know how much of this story is true, but the story has stuck with me ever since I heard it. As I approach this first year as a teacher, I’m keeping it in mind.