As a teacher of young children, I know I hold an awesome responsibility.  Yes, I am responsible for teaching the TEKS, but I also help to shape the young people that my students become.  When children enter my classroom, they are cultivating their own philosophies of life.  Teachers, such as myself, either facilitate positive student perspectives or stifle them.  I believe that there are many traits that I help to cultivate in my students.  I know that the most important traits that I can help to cultivate in my students are a respect for one’s self and others and a love of learning.

 I truly believe, without question, that all children can learn.  Children learn differently, at different developmental levels using many different modalities.  Expectations are everything in teaching.  I take my students' learning very personally because I am their advocate.  I try to make learning fun and interactive and I use practices that are developmentally appropriate.  By understanding how and under what circumstances children learn best, I can help to foster a love for learning in my students.  I’m excited about learning, and I expect my students to be excited too.  I have taught my students that they are scholars and life long learners. In my classroom we practice “scholarly behaviors.”  Just as I am always thinking about my next goal, I expect my students to work towards theirs.  My students look to me for the answers and I pose the questions back at them.  Why is it important for us to learn to read?  How can I see this shape or form from a “different perspective?”   Why must we set high goals for ourselves and then work hard to achieve them?

   My students' learning didn’t begin with me, they’ve had many opportunities to learn, and their learning will not end with me, they will have many more opportunities to learn in the future, but my students’ learning will be forever driven by the choices I make with them today.  If I help develop in my students a longing to know more, the inquisitiveness to ask the important questions and the desire to find the answers, then I have truly been their teacher.