1st post

Why are you here?
The biggest reason I went into teaching is because I wanted to share love with children. I wanted to love the children who have lots of love in their lives and especially the children who have less love in their lives. I am apt to believe that without love my future job will not feel satisfactory, my students will not learn as much, and they won’t like school as much. Love will be the foundation for my classroom. This, however, is a very vague idealistic thought. How will I show love for the children? How can I teach, what are the methods I can use? I am hoping that my next 4 semesters at UVU can help me answer these questions.

What motivates you?
I am motivated by a challenge. If someone says something is difficult, I want to do it. I am very stubborn in this way. I like a little competition. I am motivated by my heart. When I feel there is a good cause out there, I want to fight for it. I am motivated by duty. I will do things that I feel are supposed to be done, b/c someone has to do them. I am motivated by people I respect and want to impress or make happy.

Why do you succeed?
I succeed when I am motivated. When I think it's worth succeeding in, I'll succeed. If something seems unimportant than I tend not to try as hard. Even if I get an A in a class or a B if I thought it was a waste of time and I didn’t put any effort in to learning, I don’t consider this a success; I consider it a waste of time. Again, I succeed in things I feel are worth it.

Why do you fail?
I fail when I take too much on my self and expect perfection. I have to give my self time to play, do my duties, and educate myself. If I can't find time to do all these things I tend to break down. It's been a long time since I feel like I have "failed" in something. But when I did "fail" I had ignored a major part of my self. I had to recover from that. I didn't like that set back. I did learn a lot during that time, but it was at great cost. I also “fail” when I don’t learn.

How do you need to change you perspectives and or motivations in order to succeed in elementary education perform and become that great teacher?
I need to be willing to do what I will ask my students to do. I need to learn that if I think it would be a waste of time for me to do the assignment, then it is a waste of time for them to do it. I need to learn for my self why certain assignments my teachers give me are important instead of having a bad attitude towards them. I need to learn not to be so critical. I need to be more open minded. My ideas are not always the best ideas. Others ideas may be better than I give them credit for. I need to be willing to try new things.