Sofia Blandon

Professor Hoehne

Fairy Tales and Rewritings

5 September 2019

My Educational Journey

As a child, the question of “What do you want to be when you grow up?” was asked frequently. People used to tell me that I could be anything as long as I put my mind to it like a scientist, a lawyer, an engineer, maybe even the president of the United States. Everyone had their own idea for me on what career choice I should pursue, but deep down I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. The first time I realized I wanted to be a teacher was in Pre-k, now I know it sounds a little silly to believe that at that age I was already thinking about the future, but it is true.

My Pre-k teacher, Mrs. Echevarría, was an inspiration to me, she was always so kind and she always had a big smile on her face. She was willing to keep me in her class even though I was three years old and every other student was four, which showed how much she cared. She was the first person who taught me how to read and write properly and she always created fun activities to help us learn, for example I remember we had caterpillars to learn about butterflies and their life cycle and after they had made their cocoons and went through their metamorphosis, we released them all into the park across the street. My pre-k teacher and I still talk to this day, and I realize that teachers play an important role in building the foundations of a child’s thought process and development, and that was something I too wanted to achieve one day.

Learning for me at that age was fun, and I wanted to express the fun of learning onto others somehow. Being that I am an only child I had no siblings to talk to, so I would tell my mom everyday what I learned and essentially teach her about it. This is my earliest memory of “teaching” and my passion only continued to grow from there. One day in third grade my teacher was showing us how to do the Lattice method for the math portion of our class, and I remember going home that afternoon with a plan set in mind that I would play teacher. Once I got home I put on one of my mother’s heels, pulled out my easel that had a dry erase board, and set up my barbie dolls to face me like they were students in a classroom, my classroom. I would teach my barbie dolls everything I learned in school that day and even say things like, “Does anyone have any questions?”. Practicing different teaching techniques I had seen my previous teachers use, helped make me feel that much closer to my end goal which was empowering for me as a child.

As a kid I also participated in the Children’s Gardening Program at the New York Botanical Garden. My desire to teach in the future sprouted from this experience as well, due to the many instructors that I had growing up who made being outdoors and learning about plants and the environment that much more exciting. I always knew that even when I graduated from the program, I wanted to return as a volunteer and eventually an educator because I could see the amount of people they made a positive impact on. Fast forward seven years later I had the opportunity to apply for the educator’s position. To my dismay, I did not receive the job at first because I had no experience writing lesson plans. I had a choice then, I could be upset and let it eat away at me or I could work harder and ask for help on how I can prepare to be an educator. That winter, I worked alongside an educator and they helped me prepare by having me create an activity for one of the lesson plans and then demonstrate it with the students on a given day. After creating multiple activities and eventually putting together an entire lesson plan I began to feel more confident and it gave me a new perspective.

I have now been an educator for a year and I have my own group of students between the ages of six and seven. If you had told my seven year old self, which is when I began the program, that in the future I would be a crafter’s educator and have my own students who look to me for guidance I probably would not have believed it. Being the one who helps these children progress and develop ideas and thoughts on the importance of sustainability and where their food comes from has been very rewarding for me because I know I am making a difference. Educating is not just simply relaying information , it is making a connection with others, specifically for me with children, who will hold this connection and grow with it forever.

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