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Roster #14
Russell Vergara
Professor Robert Shkorupa
EDU 202 - 2002
February 10, 2021
A Philosophy of Education
Not a lot of people really understand why one would ever want to be a teacher. The salary
is not that good, the amount of stress you get, and so on. However, the real reason why people,
like myself, who aspire to be teachers is because they want to make an impact to the students
they will handle. They are not here for the money, but they are here for the cause. They want to
guide them into a successful career and a better life. Even though our time with them might be
short, it is not about the quantity of time we spent that matters but the quality of what happened
in that short 9 to 10 months of school.
When I started this course, to be honest, I felt unsure whether I really wanted to continue
pursuing this career. However, as I spend more time doing the activities and assignments of this
class, I remembered why I wanted to do it in the first place. I wanted to be a teacher because I
wanted to make an impact on my future students like how my teachers made an impact on my
life. I want to be that little push that would give students their best in order to achieve the dream
they are pursuing. I want to give my all into molding and guiding these students into a better
version of themselves even if it is only a tiny fragment of their lifetime. To be able to see your
students grow into something that they wanted to become, is something I would really be happy
and feel accomplished in doing. Every moment I spend with my future students, I will cherish
them all.
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I genuinely enjoyed doing the lesson plan and PowerPoint presentation assignment. It
gave me a sneak peak of what teachers do. The amount of planning and research they do in order
to teach students and make it more memorable is commendable and is seriously no joke. It made
me feel bad for my teachers back in the past because of some of my fellow students not enjoying
their lessons, me included from time to time, considering the amount of planning they did. I
never imagined it, so it was nice to finally do what they have been doing. I found it fun preparing
a PowerPoint as well. I tried to make it look very simple but eye-catching at the same time so
that it will be more focused on. When you start doing these things, one just cannot half bake
these types of stuff but consider how your students will feel and be more convenient for them in
order to assist them in learning. The assignment was a great introduction to how the career will
be in the future and it made me look forward to what teaching has in store for me.
5 years from now, I can see myself just out of college with a few job offers from high
schools already. I would be teaching English to 10th or 11th graders while being an advisor for a
club, preferably the Archery club. This would be my goal here in the United States, but
ultimately, I want to move to Japan and teach English there. That is where I see myself in 3-5
years after teaching here in Las Vegas. The reason why I want to go to Japan is because I have
always wanted to experience to be a high school student in Japan however I was not able to. So, I
told myself, “I might not be able to be a student in Japan, but I can be a teacher and live my
dreams in another way”. Something about high schools in Japan just really captivates me. It is
way more interactive and fun for students and teachers while keeping the high standards for high
school.
I would most likely try to incorporate many different techniques and styles in teaching to
make my class more memorable. One thing that stood out to me back in my junior year was my
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English teacher, Ms. Courtney Bauder, who held a funeral for a character from the book we have
been reading as one of our activities. It was fun and unique; I want to be this unique and creative
in my life as a teacher. To be able to make students be more invested in the work they are doing.
Other than that, my teaching style would be like your average teacher ranging from lesson
lectures, worksheets, projects, class discussions, and group activities. I would try to consider the
learning styles of my students as well.
Like students, I have my learning style preferences. My preference is more on hands on
and the interactive type of learning. I cannot do it on my own, like online learning, it is too much
different to what I got accustomed to. As much as possible, I want to be in a learning
environment where everybody else is also serious in the class. Online learning has just too many
distractions that I cannot focus on the task on hand. Therefore, I would try to do my style of
learning first and see how it goes for the students before trying another way of learning.
Being a teacher is not just an honor but a responsibility. A responsibility one must be
careful with in doing something. Each step and move requires a lot of planning to make sure
everything is going to be okay and be beneficial to students. My government teacher once said,
“Being a teacher is hard, if you made a mistake you can’t fix it anymore, but you just need to
learn from it and move on”. With this, I can say that being a teacher requires effort,
perseverance, patience, understanding, and motivation. A teacher must know why they are doing
it in the first place. They must stay neutral in all times and can adapt into certain situations when
needed. A good teacher should remove any personal feelings and not let it get in the of work in
order to show professionalism in the field.
People, like myself, aspire to be teachers is because they want to make an impact to the
students they will handle. They are not here for the money, but they are here for the cause.
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People just haven’t appreciated how valuable teachers are in society and it just saddens me. This
is what I think about the teaching profession and I appreciate everyone who chose this
profession.
