This is mine - got me on the course, so can't be bad!
Good luck!
I want to teach because I believe it will be an extremely fulfilling and rewarding career. My own education has had a strong influence on me as the teachers I encountered left an imprint on me with regard to their ability to inspire and educate children. Ever since I had to see a Careers Advisor in school at the age of fifteen, I have wanted to be that same inspiration and educator to children.
I have traveled widely across Europe with charitable organizations between the ages of 10 and 17. One trip was to Romania to work in one of the orphanages for a week in which we cleaned and redecorated the orphanage to make it safer for the children. I worked in their ?holiday club? whilst we were there and taught the older children some very basic English and English games. We helped with the amount of time available to the babies in the ?play room? in which they were typically only allowed in one hour a day. This trip was a heart rendering experience in which I grew up very rapidly and learned how to cope and deal with such emotional trauma and children that had gone through hideous times to end up where they were.
I have had a tumultuous few years from the age of 19, in which I was in a very bad relationship, had a child and became a single parent at the age of 20. After the relationship ended, I went back to college evening classes to do a further A-level to those I had done in sixth form. I got a C grade in English Language and went straight on to study for my degree which is also in English. I believe these few years have given me an extremely strong drive to achieve my ultimate dream; to become a primary school teacher. These few years led me to grow to a level of maturity I had never had. I have become responsible with every area of single parenthood and I am able to cope with many situations I have never been in, whether it is regarding finances, parenting or time management.
I have had some recent experience in two local primary schools; both were voluntary positions I took in order to get relevant experience for this course. My first placement was in 2004 in * Primary School. I was a classroom assistant, one day a week for the first two terms of that school year in the Year 1 class. I undertook basic classroom jobs, such as listening to children read, helping when the children got stuck on a task and occasionally holding the fort while the teacher was out of the room dealing with an autistic boy from the class. I rapidly built a relationship with the children and was complemented by the other school staff at my ability to undertake these tasks and deal with the children in a manner that is as competent as a trained member of staff. In this time I also did administration work (general photocopying of children?s work) and helped prepare and tidy the classroom before and after school. Now, I have the same position in * Primary School for two days a week. I volunteer in years 3, 5 and 6. I have the same responsibilities and act as a Teaching Assisstant.
All in all, I think becoming a mother has increased my ability to relate to children and obtain their respect and trust quite quickly. My fast learning, dedicated and disciplined outlook to studying and working all lend themselves extremely well to becoming a teacher.