I thought that all of the advice that Steve gave us was pretty valuable in one aspect or another. He talked about a lot of things but several specific things caught my attention. First, I was intrigued by Steve's background in teaching. He did some of his teaching in a suburb of Chicago and discussed how different and what a difficult experience this was. This especially interested me because I have always thought that I would want to start out my teaching career in inner city Chicago. I know that this would be a very ambitious and somewhat daunting task, especially in the first years of teaching, when many are likely to discontinue. But I have lived in St. Paul, Minnesota all my life and coming to college in Decorah, Iowa has made me realize how much the city atmosphere means to me and how much it influences me. I would really like to return to a city to teach, and I know that I could impact lives by teaching in a very low-income area. In contrast to the panel of young local teachers that we had last week, it was nice to hear that Steve had actually gone and had all of these experiences. Despite the undoubtedly many obstacles and hardships involved in teaching in an area like inner city Chicago, I was able to see that it was possible and that he gained many valuable teaching experiences from teaching in an extremely needy area. This gave me hope for accomplishing something that not many people really think I can have success with.
Another point that Steve made that I thought was really important was that he told us how important it is not to do the same thing for 40 years. He emphasized that it is crucial to switch grade levels, schools, teaching positions, and administrative positions in order to continue to grow and learn throughout your teaching career. This was quite important for me to hear because I tend to be someone who gets very comfortable with routine and will sometimes be scared of change. I see now that I need to stay active in my career and open to learning at all times because it will ultimately continue to make me a better teacher, which will allow me to better prepare my students, which is what truly matters in this profession.
I agree that Steve's background in teaching was very interesting. I've always had the ambition to go and teach in an inner city when I leave college. And, to see that he did it and that he learned so much from that experience, makes me want to experience it as well. I also think that staying active in you career, by either learning more in school or by moving around in different positions you will become a better teacher, and be able to help the students even more.
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