Introduction:

I have always known I wanted to become a teacher. I can remember the first day I walked into my own second grade classroom. There were no students there. The room was bare. Even the windows were bare. The only thing there was an old, battered rug rolled up in a corner. I saw so many possibilities. I saw the area that would house my library. I could picture my little donated bean bags all arranged in a circle in one corner of the room. I pictured my white rocker, my husband worked so diligently to restore to its original glory, in the circle time area awaiting duty. I could imagine pictures on the walls, plush and colorful bulletin boards, and smiling faces looking up at me. I can remember the day the students came. The room was all set up. Everything was in place. My bare windows were fully clothed with makeshift blinds I had fashioned from vibrant, fadeless bulletin board paper. My principal ordered my matching color-blocked rug, which had been delivered just the day before. My library was all set up. The pillows and beanbags, the handmade bulletin boards, and the larger than life Disney characters made my classroom one of the best decorated classrooms on campus. However, these things alone did not make me a successful teacher. The school was implementing new reading and math programs. Teachers had been attending training leading up to the start of school. I have always loved reading and language arts and math has always been a simple subject to me. So, I welcomed the experience. I was excited about implementing the new programs. On that first day, I was educated and prepared. I stood there looking over all the new little faces in front of me and I had a brief panic attack. I had no idea what happened. They were all so small and they were all depending on me to get them through this next year. I suddenly felt overwhelmed. I grabbed bottled water from my refrigerator and took a few sips, before downing the entire bottle. I grabbed the book I had set aside to read to the class. I called them all to the carpet and I began to read. Somewhere between the front cover and the back cover, I realized I could relax because I was in the right place. The past few years of teaching elementary school have been rewarding. After been transferred to middle school one year and back to an elementary school the next, I began having an uneasy feeling again. This time it was not the feeling of uncertainty. It was more a feeling of urgency to move on in my career....

/positions/statements/writingbeliefs 10 1998 2.0 2001 2007 2012 232 3rd 6 7 abl access achiev acquir activ ad addison address advantag agre aid aim allow alon alreadi also alway ampl anoth anyon append appli area arrang art articul artist asid ask assess assist attack attend atwel author await away back bad bag bare base basic batter bean beanbag becom began begin belief benefit best better bi bi-liter bilingu blind block board book bottl box brief bulletin call came campus capabl capac care career carpet centuri certain certif challeng chang charact character choic choos circl class classroom cloth collabor color color-block come communal communiti complet compos composit comput concern conclus construct content convent convinc corner could council cours coursework cover creat credit critic cultiv curriculum cycl daili day debat decor definit deliv depend deserv design develop devot differ digit dilig discuss disney divers doctor donat down due duti earli easier easili ed educ effect element elementari ell embrac empir employ encompass encourag endless engag english enhanc enjoy enough ensur entir environ even everyon everyth evid exampl excel excerpt exchang excit expand expect experi experienc expos expositori express face fact fadeless familiar fashion feel felt find first fluenci focus forc format forth freedom friendli front full fulli gaug generat genius genr get give given glori go good grab grade great guid half hampshir handmad happen heinemann help hinder hire hold hour hous howev husband idea imag imagin immedi implement import impress improv incorpor increas insid instead instruct interact interest introduc introduct job journal journey keep kent key knew know knowledg known languag larger last lead learn learner lectur less lesson level librari life life-long lifetim listen liter literaci literari literatur littl live long longman look love lover made main make makeshift mani marri match materi math matter may mention method middl mind mini mini-lesson minut month move much multifacet multimedia music must n narrat nation nativ natur ncte necessarili need neglect network new newkirk next nine novelist offer often old one onlin open open-mind opportun order organ orient origin other outsid overwhelm ownership panic paper part particip past patient pedagogi pen pictur piec pillow place plush poem poet possibl practic pragmat prepar present previous princip principl process processor produc profession profici program proper prospect proven publish put qualifi qualit question r reach read reader realiz recognit refer refresh refriger regard relax rememb requir research resourc respons rest restor retriev review revis reward right rocker roll room rubric rug sampl saw say school second secondari self self-express selfish sens sentenc set sever simpl simpli sip six six-trait skill small smile social softwar someon somewher sophist sound spandel speech standard start state step still stood stori strategi stress structur student studi style subject success sudden support sure take taught teach teacher technolog tell text theori therefor thesi thing think though thought time today took tool toward tradit train trait transfer travel turn twenti twenty-first two type typewrit ultim uncertainti uneasi uniqu urgenc use user v valu varieti various vers vibrant video virtual vision voic voice-ov walk wall want watch water way web websit week welcom well well-vers wesley whatev whether white wider will window woo word work workshop world worthi would write writer written www.ncte.org www.ncte.org/positions/statements/writingbeliefs year york