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Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Unit 1 You—The Teacher of Tomorrow
Think seriously about what subjects and age group you want to teach.
These are two important questions in understanding your desire to become
a teacher. First, think about what you would like to teach. Do you have a
passion for a particular subject? Some people love a single subject area
such as biology or art. Others like to teach in all basic areas, including
reading, writing, science, and math. Is your desire to teach young children,
those in middle grades, younger teens, older teens, or young adults?
When you know what you want to achieve, you are more likely to
achieve it. Use your personal answers to the “what” and “who” questions
as a basis for writing a career goal—a clear, concise statement of
what you want to become in life. Write down exactly what you want to
accomplish in specific terms. Perhaps your goal is to be a third grade
teacher. Maybe you want to teach in a rural school. How will you feel
when you accomplish this goal? Although you may modify your goal later,
having a career goal helps you move forward with your career plans and
education.
Your career goal forms the foundation for identifying interrelated goals
that help you achieve it. For example, to become that third grade teacher,
you might set the goal of gaining admittance to a particular university with
an excellent teacher education program.
Use the analogy (a comparison of two unlike things for similarities)
of a tree as you think of the process of achieving your career goal.
Your main career goal is the trunk while your related goals, such as
acceptance into the university of your choice, are the main branches. For
each of those, identify the specific steps you need to achieve them. These
steps are like smaller branches off the main ones. You can identify even
more specific ways to achieve these goals. In this way, you have a series
of very specific goals to meet that connect you to your main goal, giving
you have a path to follow.
Next, outline the steps to take to complete each goal. If you want
to get into a particular university with an excellent teacher education
program, figure out what you need to do to gain acceptance and be
able to attend. Perhaps you need to improve your grades, apply to the
university early in your senior year, and develop a plan for paying for the
cost of your education. Determine the specific actions to take to achieve
each of these steps. For example, to improve your grades, you may
commit to writing down each assignment, doing your homework as soon
as you get home (with your cell phone off), and studying an extra hour
each day. Then reevaluate your strategy at the end of each month and
modify it if your grades are not improving. Consider possible roadblocks
or challenges to meeting your goal. How can you deal with these?
Does setting a career goal seem overwhelming? It does not have to
be. Begin your career planning today. Consider what you can do today,
this week, this month, or this year to help you move toward your goal.