Over the past month I received essay entries
for the 2014 Back-To-School Essay Contest from students ranging from
Kindergarten To Middle School. Thank you to each and every one of the
participants—I truly enjoyed reading all your essays.
The winners from each category (elementary
and middle school) received a $15 gift certificate to Powell's bookstore. The
elementary and middle school teachers of the winners also won a $25 gift
certificate for school supplies and a 152 pack of Crayola Crayons for their
class.
The winning essays were published in my November/December issue of The
Neighborhood Connection newsletter. Below are the winning essays and the
honorable mention essays. Thank you and happy reading!
Dayana P. Grade 5.
I've been watching teachers do things for almost 6 years.
Me being a student, I have had many of the same subjects through the past years: math, reading, writing, science, and social studies. Sometimes the teachers focus on other subjects than others. Now I'm the teacher, and I have important choices to make for my classroom and students. This is how my classroom would be different.
I would spend more time on math,
reading and writing.
A teacher's biggest goal is to get their students ready for a career. I know some students don't like these subjects for example math, but when we have OAKS or Smarter Balance testing, they aren't going to get a passing grade.I want to teach my students that math isn't something that you should ignore or any subject, for it can get you a great grade, a diploma, a job, or a scholarship. There is only so many things that I can teach them. They may think that I would do a lot of the work but they do, they choose to put the effort. I would love to know that they know it is up to them. Adding more time to those subjects would help the students be stronger in these areas, and life.
Homework. As a student, I know homework can be torture!
But
what I didn't know about homework until my 4th grade teacher Ms. Bergerson, is
that it's practice. Learning something and making sure you remember it, that is
what homework is. In this case I would give the same amount of homework, but I
would give the homework out to the student depending on their learning ability.
If they are strong in the area of reading, I would give them an assignment
suiting them. Part of your job being a teacher is to understand the needs of
your student, and challenge them.
And
for my last change if I were a teacher, I would have fun.
Three
of my teachers in the past Mr. Palau, Mrs. Stephenson, and Ms. Bergerson, let
us play games or do activities. The teachers who you can tell understand you,
let a little fun into the class. Either to reward you for hard work or to make
you interested in learning. I remember playing 7 up, kickball, 4 corners,
sometimes play pop music while we worked, and draw fun things.
4th grade was an adventure! Ms. Bergerson was fun in so many ways, you couldn't get bored. She understood us so well, that one time during math when we were learning fractions she cut the whole {a foam hexagon} into thirds {rhombuses} even though she wasn't suppose to! You could tell that she didn't really act like a teacher, more like a friend. I want to leave a mark on my students like Ms. Bergerson left on me. I want to see my students happy to learn and enjoy being at school. I want to leave memories on them as they leave my classroom. I know that it is hard to have fun when you are pushed hard, but when you are rewarded you feel way better. I am going to be one of those teachers. I don't just want to be a teacher to them. I want to be a friend.
And that is
what I would do if I were a teacher.
Jasmine C. Grade 6.
We children are like plants ready to sprout, but without soil, water and
sun we can’t grow tall because what we need are teachers to help us along the
way. So if you were a teacher how would your class be different?
If I were a teacher my class would be different because I would hang
paintings and art all over the walls to show some creativity. Inspire my
students to find out meanings of those paintings to see that everything has a
meaning to it. Including more art projects to help them develop their artistic
skills that they could use to succeed in life. Have them explore with colors to
show their personalities.
As a teacher I would include more field trips and more volunteering as a
class in the community because as we help the community they help us. Field
trips are a great way to learn without looking at a book. It’s very fun and
educational, you can see things up close, which is better than looking at a
picture up close. It’s a great way to learn but in a fun way.
You can explore more. Discoveries to be made waiting to be found. These
are some very good reasons of how my class would be different.The main thing that would be
different in my class is to add more reading time because reading is the main
reason of learning for children. Reading is what we use the most in our lives,
even math involves reading.
I believe that in my class this is how I would change the way children
are educated. Not every learning should be involved in a classroom. Some people
might say teaching is hard, and its true but the children know that teaching is
like learning. It’s hard work but they should know that hard work will pay off.
These are some different ways my class would be for a better future.
