Autobiography

Autobiography

To introduce you into my idea of teaching and my experiences in this field, it is important to clarify that it was only until I entered the university program that I realized and understand how wonderful this profession is. When I was a child a used to dream with the day in which I became a doctor. That idea of my dreamed profession started to grow and my mind began to focus on an specific branch of medicine, it was clear, I wanted to be a pediatrician.

However, it was not until 2007 in my last school year, in which my English teacher started to identify special features in my English proficiency. She told me that by that time I had a beautiful pronunciation, and also that I had a special talent for memorizing new words. In that sense she send me to participate in different contest around the city. To be honest, I never won one of this contests, but this was the most remarkable experience in which I had contact with the English language. One day, during an English class, she said to me : “you are going to be the next English teacher of this school” and I just smiled, because in my plan for the future, being a teacher was not an option.

Nevertheless I continued studying hard in order to get a high score in the national exams. But in a science class, I realized that I am a very fragile person, and that I never would be ready to face with difficult situations in a hospital or even to be in contact with blood.  In that moment, my idea of becoming a doctor started to change. So, when I finished my school and after obtaining amazing result on the national exam, I have to face the most difficult situation ever: Now, what am I going to study? My father said, “Why do not you try to become a teacher that is a wonderful profession”. So, that day started my journey through this amazing adventure of becoming a teacher.

In theory, all seemed to be perfect. I wanted to be the best teacher ever, in my mind I had lots of wonderful ideas to apply in the classroom. However when I had to face a real educational context, those ideas started to change. My students were not motivated, the fact of being a young teacher was not an advantage, because sometimes they treated like a classmate. Even I feel frustrated when the principal or coordinators, said no to my teaching plans. My first job, was as my teacher said in my school. It was amazing because by that time my role had changed, I was not the student any more, I became the teacher. This experience helped me a lot to build up my strengths as a primary teacher. I realized that kids are the most thankful students you will have. However the payment was an obstacle to continue there. Then I had the experience to work with adults, it was kind of strange, when those people called me teacher because I was younger than them. However the owner of the institute never pay me the salary. Nowadays I am working in a private school. For three years a have had the opportunity to work with first graders, children from 5 to 7 years old. This experience has enrich my role as teacher, now I understand that being a teacher goes beyond merely theory, being a teacher involvers students likes, dislikes, desires, strengths and weaknesses. It also implies time, patience, effort, and passion. As a said in my teaching metaphor, for me a teacher is like and artist, that takes a blank canvas and creates amazing painting to show the students. This painting can help the learner to be more interested on the topic, it can generate new inquires and motivation started to grow in the students’ minds.

The reflection upon my teaching practice, has helped me a lot, in order to change or redirect my role, my activities and also it has helped me to shape my strengths and overcome my weaknesses. Now, I want to keep learning more from my students and colleagues. I love my profession and I my desire is to help teachers to reflect upon their practices and to improve the quality of education in our country.