At What Moment Did You Know You Wanted to Be An Educator/Teacher?

I like many others have joined LinkedIn. I belong to 14 groups that deal with education. One of the groups I belong to is called The Teacher’s Network.  A few weeks ago a member of our group Herm Allen, who is the President, Herm Allen Coaching in Greenville, South Carolina Area asked everyone the question,” At What Moment Did You Know You Wanted to Be An Educator/Teacher?

At first, I thought this is an interesting question. There were several people who commented, including me. Two people knew they wanted to be teachers in elementary school; some people became hockey coaches or volunteered with youth groups and realized they wanted to teach; someone did not know what to do with her degree in art and became a teacher. Then she loved it. One gentleman spoke about becoming a school teacher in India in the 1980s and that teaching had a stigma to it, and it was the lowest paying job in his province. He left it for 3 years and went back to it.

I was in the sixth grade when I knew I wanted to be an educator. I went to Catholic school. I had a nun called Sr. Amy. She loved the Yankees. The Yankees made it to the World Series. She brought to class a real small black & white TV, so that we could watch them play. While we did this, she had us do math, science, reading, social studies, and current events.

 We each had a player. We worked on his stats not only for the games, but for several years before. We had to try to figure out what he would do, and back up our feeling with math. We looked at the stats of the other teams, also.

We studied the weather on the day of the game, science of throwing a ball, hitting it. We read articles about the games and wrote summaries. We did research (library-book research) on the area's economic, jobs, social issues etc.

 When she did that, I realized that there is no substitute for learning. I wanted to be an educator like Sr. Amy. I have had a long career in my chosen vocation, but I always ask myself "Is this what Sr. Amy would do?"

Now, I have to ask “Why are you staying in teaching?” “Why have I stayed in teaching?” My answer comes in a story about my grandfather. My grandfather came to the United States from Italy in 1920s. He was told by his brother-in-law that in America the streets are lined in gold. Yes, I know-STOP LAUGHING! I can remember asking my grandfather, “Were they really lined in gold?” He said, “Yes, but the gold in American streets were the ability of anyone to send their child to school”. He said, “The gold he saw was the sides of the pages of books. Books that if he stayed in Italy, his children and grandchildren may not have had the opportunity to read or write. The gold of America was the ability of an immigrant’s child and grandchild to have the same opportunities as rich people’s children. Why-because you are educated!”

Those of you, who know me, know I am writing this blog through tears.  I still want to believe that the streets of America are paved in the gold of education that my grandfather believed in. Why do I still teach? Because - I believe “Tutto è Possible” (Anything is possible!) through education.