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Ashley Overstreet
become a teacher one day. This experience was going to be a completely new change from my
normal pace of college classes. This was my first semester after deciding to become a teacher. I
was in my third year of college in the Justice Studies program here at Georgia Southern and
decided that was not the field I wanted to pursue. I loved the Justice Studies classes, but I was
terrified of what job I would actually be able to have one day. I knew that I did not want to
become a police officer, probation officer, or work in a prison. Everyday I woke up and
wondered if Justice Studies was my correct major choice. Most students in this field do not know
what they would like to pursue after college, but they do know it is something dealing with the
law or the legal process. Choosing to become a Justice Studies major was very easy for me. I
worked at a court while I was in high school. After I graduated high school I chose to keep my
job, and take college classes at night. I worked at the court for approximately four years. Last
June I married my high school sweetheart, and moved away from my hometown to the county
where my husband is currently employed. Now I am working for an attorney firm and attending
Georgia Southern. These jobs made it easy for me to choose the Justice Studies program at
Georgia Southern. I loved it at the court and I love my current job, so why not follow the field
that comforted me the most. During last semester my mind began to wonder if I had made the
correct choice. I had always thought about teaching but followed the area that was most familiar.
I made a huge decision and changed my major to Secondary Education. I had wasted a whole
year of school but I had to try something new. I feared that I would not have a job that I felt
comfortable in after graduating. I also wanted to teach so that I could become a role model. My
work experiences have allowed me to work with many criminals who do not care for you or
themselves. Teaching would give me the chance to make a difference in a child’s life.
Personal Reflection 3
I work up early in the morning and could not wait to attend my first pre-professional
block course this class was going to be something new and interesting. After my first class I had
fallen in love with teaching and decided that I had chose the correct major. A couple of weeks
passed and I loved the classes and my teachers. I was learning new things and ideas. I was
intrigued by the thought of myself teaching. I attended the orientations for field placement, and
The big day was here and I was nervous but anxious to go to the high school. I was
placed at a school with the middle and high school sharing the same campus. The principle
shared the responsibilities of both schools, but maintained keeping the students separated. My
first day went really well, but I was troubled by the relaxation of the classroom. I was a
Secondary Political Science major but placed in a math class. This class consisted of about
fifteen students. Of the fifteen I believe six or seven were considered Special Education students.
The teacher had been teaching for many years but was very pleasant. She had her own teaching
and discipline style. In the mornings during the principle’s announcements over the intercom
students talked continuously. Having my observations at this school I felt I needed to know what
was happening at the school, but did not feel brave enough to ask my teacher to have the students
stop talking. Students constantly walked around the room while she was teaching a lesson.
Students went to the bathroom without asking. This behavior seemed so terrible. After the first
day I realized maybe this was how the teacher was able to make the students listen. As I stated
above many of these students were considered Special Education students. The reasons for this
classification varied from student to student but I learned quickly their attention span was very
short. After going to the school for a couple of weeks my idea of teaching changed drastically. I
realized it was not the behavior of the students that was bothering me so much it was the thought
Personal Reflection 4
of having to handle all of these problems one day as a teacher. I began dreading going to the
school. While observing I would put myself in the place of the teacher and I knew this was not
My work experience thus far has been working at a desk and having to deal with
paperwork. This paperwork does not talk back, it does not ask thousands of questions, and
be so much greater. After analyzing all of my options I decided to drop the field experience and
change my major back to Criminal Justice. This change was very easy. I do not have any regrets.
I feel a teacher must be a person who is one hundred percent committed to the students and
profession. I know that I would have been a teacher who was burned out after a couple of years. I
felt it was not fair to me or any students that I would have had to continue in the field without my
heart. Teaching requires so much more than most people realize. I think many of the currently
enrolled students in the teaching field have not had a lot of work experience. I think this
contributes to why they feel so comfortable in this major. If you do not know what it is like to
have a lot of freedom within in a job you do not realize what you are missing.
This reflection is very hard for me because now I do not want to become a teacher. I am
going to reflect on the idea of how I would want to teach, and why these things contribute to my
If I were going to become a teacher which pedagogical paradigms would I place myself
within? I would situate myself in the transmissionist and constuctivist paradigm. I feel when
students need to pay full attention to the teacher, and what she is trying to convey the
transmissionist style is ideal. In classes such as math I feel students learn more efficiently with
desks lined in rows and the teacher in front. Math is a subject that students must give full
Personal Reflection 5
attention to the teacher. It involves many steps most of the time and if idea is the entire problem
seems confusing. In Stand and Deliver, Jaime Escalante, the teacher had his class in rows with
him in the front teaching. “A transmission-model classroom looks like what you might think of
class you need your students to pay direct attention to you and the lesson being taught. I felt he
was an excellent math teacher. He wanted his students to learn things they were unexpected to be
able to learn. He taught a group of students Calculus against all odds. Even though the desks
were aligned he made the classroom into a big area of learning. All students participated and he
walked the aisles making the classroom more relaxed. If I were going to become a teacher one
day I would like to have the traits of Jaime. He enjoyed his job. He felt his students had the
knowledge to learn anything he taught them. I would want to be proud of my students and teach
them new and exciting ideas beyond their normal expectancy, but I fear this would be a problem.
I think I would get frustrated after a student was told over and over how to do a problem and still
continued to get the problem incorrect. I am afraid I would not have the patience needed to
become a teacher of Jaime’s quality. Jaime allowed students to come to his home and study. I
think I would not have the caring quality of Jamie. I have too many fears of what may happen if
students were to come to my home. I think people would talk about me, students may take
advantage of my home by vandalizing things, or I would not have the capacity to put forth this
much effort. I am married and want to have children one day. I want to discipline and deal with
my children’s problems. I do not think I would like to deal with children that were not my own
on an every day basis. Jamie loved kids at all times of the day. One of the most important aspects
of teaching is that you must enjoy children in general. Patience is a necessity when working with
constuctivist view. She did have students in rows within the classroom but these rows turned into
students sitting on top of desks, dancing, and singing. She had control of the classroom but the
students talked continuously. Classroom discussion was very open and opinionated. She did not
follow the normal curriculum of the school, but rather taught poetry based on what the students
lives were centered around. She made the students realize that poetry is very important and you
can learn a great deal about life through poetry. Ms. Johnson stood up against the principal and
other administrators for her students. I feel as a teacher I would like to be the constuctivist model
and Ms. Johnson. I feel while working with students you strive and their ideas even if this is
against the norm. This idea is why teaching is not for me. I have always following the phrase “by
the book”. This means if something is in writing and a standard is set, I would not break it. To be
a teacher I think you have to learn to bend the rules in order for your students to trust you and
your teaching style. I think students must feel secure within your classroom, and they want to
know that you will believe in them even if this means going against the administration.
It is very easy for me to place myself in the transmissionist or constuctivist style but
actually carrying out one of these styles of teaching is totally unrealistic. I feel both of these
styles of teaching require a person who is going to give their entire heart to the profession.
Teaching is not a profession that you can remain happy with unless you enjoy working with
students. I feel that my future is in the area of adults and paperwork not students and lesson
plans. I enjoy working with people but I do not feel that working with students will bring out my
best qualities. I hope that the profession I pursue will one day bring out my best qualities. I hope
that I will be the transmissionist and constructivist of that profession. I hope I will be the person
Murphy, S. L,. Johnson, T.S., Hundley, M., Sanford, A., Bickmore, S., & Zoss, M. (2004).