Podcast Script

What follows is the script of a podcast I made for class this week explaining why I have decided to become a teacher, as well as my teaching philosophy.

Why do I want to become a teacher? It’s a fair question. Very straight forward. However, my answer is anything but straight forward. My road to this career choice has endured many curves and detours over the years. Counting Concordia, I have attended four Universities and three different Community Colleges in Washington and Oregon over a span of 20 plus years. I made a feeble attempt at college when I was 18 and again the following year at Oregon State where I was academically suspended due to a low G.P.A. I then spent the next seven years working full time, first as a shoe salesman at FOOTLOCKER, and then as a short order cook at various restaurants. By the time I turned 26 years old, I had become burned out with restaurant work and needed something more. I then remembered a moment in time, a snapshot memory of myself on the playground at my old Elementary school perhaps in the 1st or 2nd grade. I remembered telling a friend that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. Fast forward to 1996, as I enrolled at Clatsop Community College in Astoria, Oregon with the goal of graduating and teaching high school social studies. It has taken me twelve years to earn my undergraduate degree and enroll in the Master’s program at Concordia. During that time I’ve been married twice and have raised a fine son, who is now six years old. The three of us live in Beaverton and are looking into adopting a little girl in the next couple of years.

While I was a student at Clatsop Community College I took a series of classes titled “The History of the United States.” All we did, for three terms, was look at American history from one presidential term to the next. It was then that I decided I want to teach History, but in a way that would be more interactive, real, and fun for students. I don’t want to just teach kids when things happened and to whom, but rather why these events took place and based on understanding these past events, can we attempt to predict the future, . I want to teach why things fell apart for the South during the Civil War, what British traditions are still evident in American society and why, why does the United States have good relations with some countries and poor relations with so many others. During these lectures I plan to use a mixture of lecture, music, project making, computers, and other forms of innovative methods of teaching in the hopes of reaching all of my students, not just the ones that enjoy school. I want to prepare kids not only for college, but also adulthood. How to get a job and stay employed. How to keep good relations with family and friends over the years. How to prepare for a college exam or job interview. How to pay bills and establish good credit. In short, I want to teach kids all the things which were not properly taught to me. And for the things which were taught to me but I forgot or disregarded, I want to present them more clearly and personably to the kids so maybe, just maybe they remember a couple of the things I want them to take with them after graduating.