Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. 24 Unit 1 You—The Teacher of Tomorrow Arianna laid the stack of student papers on her desk and sat down. (She had only been a middle school English teacher for six months.) It was a beautiful spring afternoon. The windows were open, letting in the fresh breeze. Arianna felt a sense of satisfaction. As usual, she was spending a few minutes of reflection on her day before leaving school, noting what had gone well and what changes she might make in the future. Today had been a successful day. The students stayed reasonably focused, and there were no major concerns for that particular school day. She even had time to have a couple of one-on-one conversations with students about some of their personal matters. As she regrouped, her thoughts turned toward her speaking engagement tonight at her high school. Just four years earlier she had graduated, having completed a teaching academy program. Arianna’s task this evening was to speak to students about the field of education. She wondered how she could possibly convey to her audience just how much she had learned during this short time. She wanted to share an honest account of what it was like to be a teacher, including both the positive and negative experiences. As her thoughts went back to when she first decided to be a teacher, the words she would say this evening took shape in the following way: Arianna’s Thoughts… In high school, I was quite confident about my decision to go to college and major in education. I wanted to be a middle school teacher and work with children in those awkward, frustrating preteen years of self-discovery. I applied to the university’s teacher education program and was accepted. Even though my goal was to teach middle school, my certification would be to teach all subjects from kindergarten to grade 9. Consequently, I worked with children of various ages as part of my teacher education training. I also had to choose two areas of specialization. I chose English and social studies. I really enjoyed the classes, as well as observing and working with children. When it came time to complete my student teaching, I was placed at a middle school in the city. The first day I walked in, I realized that this was a whole new world. Although it hadn’t been that long since I was in middle school, very little seemed familiar to me. This urban school was very different from the suburban one that I had attended. My feelings must have been obvious. When my supervising teacher asked me what I thought of my first day, I told her that everything seemed chaotic. I said that I didn’t feel that I would be able to relate effectively to students with such diverse backgrounds. She asked me what had led me to teaching and what my career goals were. I told her of my dream of teaching young teens. Fortunately, she was very understanding. She reminded me that all preteens are basically similar, and that I was focusing too much on exterior differences. Chaay_Tee/iStock/Getty Images PERSPECTIVES on TEACHING