In college I discovered that I enjoy learning and school so much that I never want to leave it. I began my teaching career as an AVID tutor where I had the opportunity to help students hone their study skills. I was also able to help students get into college. My experiences as a tutor confirmed that teaching was the ideal career for me.
After earning my teaching credential I immediately began to work at a continuation high school. Though I was initially doubtful whether this was a place where I could thrive, I quickly came to realize that I enjoyed working with at-risk youth. I was able to help students navigate past previous mistakes and direct them towards more successful futures. I was more than a teacher. I was an adviser, counselor, friend, role model, running coach, and more. After teaching for five years, I decided to take on a new leadership role at my school. I became an instructional coach, helping my colleagues learn new strategies to teach English Language Learners. I did this for two years before returning to the classroom with a new perspective in how school organizations are run. After my eighth year in teaching, my next assignment would be at a middle school. I approached my new assignment with a great deal of enthusiasm. The middle school that I was being reassigned to was a school that had its share of problems and therefore would be closed down in the following year. As a teacher at this school, I would have the opportunity to help design the new school that would be created to replace the failing one. I thoroughly enjoyed working at this school and with this age group. That I was able to be a founding faculty member for a new, innovative middle school was the icing on the cake. Now I have been teaching at the new magnet middle school for a little over a year. At this school I teach my students language arts. I also teach them how to code, solder circuit boards, make movies, music, and digitally fabricate their 3D designs. Additionally, I am also the technology integration coach. I get to help teachers discover the best ways to use technology in their lessons. I am an integral part of an grant that has paired our school with Verizon, which has provided iPads for each of our students, and has also given us access to Verizon’s cellular data. Every student at my site has access to technology and the internet and it is my job to help teachers make the most of this access. I have spent a little over a decade in the teaching profession. Each year seems to offer me a greater deal of satisfaction than the previous one. I am continuously seeking new challenges and ways to improve myself as a teacher for the benefit of my students and schools. I look anxiously towards what the next decade of my career holds in store.
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I am the son Mexican immigrants. My mother came to the United States in order to pick fruit in the orchards of the central valley while my father came following my mother. My mother spent a few years in American schools learning English while my father came not speaking a word of English and with only a middle school education.
Like with so many other Mexican immigrants, the odds were stacked against them. It was very unlikely that they would be able to achieve a middle class income and some day send their children to college. Yet my father was always a very resourceful and intellectually curious man. In no time he took it upon himself to learn English by reading the newspapers and talking with co-workers. He also began to learn trades such as mechanics and welding, which would lead him towards a comfortable union career. While he was able to accomplish a great deal with seemingly little he always lived regretfully, lamenting for what he could have achieved in different circumstances. My siblings and I grew up hearing the typical immigrant refrains of “America is the land of opportunities,” and “where the sky's the limit.” So I have grown up recognizing the courage it takes to leave one’s home in search of a better one. I have grown up learning the need to be resourceful and not fearful when it comes to taking on the unknown. I try to face my challenges with a sense of humility. I am not afraid to seek mentors, or to try multiple solutions. When one lives as an immigrant or as a first generation American there are very few patterns and traditions upon which to rely. Everyday provides the opportunity to redefine or reinvent oneself. This is how my family was able to succeed in the United States and this is how I plan to live a life full of discovery. I believe that the best educational experiences are those in which children are intellectually challenged and their natural curiosity is piqued. In my class, I do this by utilizing play and discovery, the most natural of domains for children. Play and discovery are far from frivolous activities; they are fundamental to learning and growth. Children thrive in novel experiences and the future we are preparing them for is nothing if not novel. Therefore I believe that we must teach students to cultivate many different skills that can be applied to many different circumstances. And play at its finest occurs when one is acquiring a skill that he or she can use to solve a problem for which the outcome is yet unknown.
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