My Teaching Experience

I have been student teaching for the last nine months at the college level and I would like to share my journey.

I have always felt the call to teach but never found the right situation. I thought about becoming a history teacher but didn't really want to teach within the public school system. I thought about teaching seminary but when I started my first class along that line it just didn't catch my attention. I have considered teaching computer classes at the local university but that didn't seem like my thing either. I have always enjoyed teaching church classes and teaching in a local study group environment. At every job I have had I seem to always end up mentoring the new guys as I do enjoy helping others learn.

One day a neighbor invited me to a ReValue America lecture given by Monticello College and from that moment I was hooked. I took various other continuing education courses from the college such as Introduction to the Great Books, Statesmanship Seminars, Foundations of Liberty and Georgics. I could not get enough of this education as it was a real education, not just schooling like I was use to.

When Monticello College started their first year of degree studies I jumped on board to take part in full time studies to see what the degree was all about. What an awesome education! Over the next two years I studied 119 great works by 100 different authors which doesn't even count all the syntopical reading and research on questions that came up from the readings. This was a very difficult program but worth every minute I put into it. I am shocked how much I learned in those two years about myself and many other vital subjects that every human should know about.

At the end of the two years of degree studies I had reached my goal. My mentor spoke to me and suggested I continue on at the masters level and work on my education degree. I knew at this point it was the right situation and the right college for me so I signed up for a few more years of punishment.

As it came time to start student teaching I was more than a little nervous. I really wanted my students to have the same experience I had my first year and I did not feel up to the challenge but with a lot of studying and encouragement from my mentor I started my teaching experience. I felt a bit clumsy the first few classes but eventually got the hang of things as I learned how to better prepare.

As I dug in and prepared for my student teaching by rereading each book I was shocked on how much more I got out of the books this time. By reading them a second (or more) time with a background of discussion and having read other great books I was able to go much deeper and have a much deeper understanding of each book.

"If you want to learn something, read about it. If you want to understand something, write about it. If you want to master something, teach it." Yogi Bhajan

I sure don't feel like a master of the material I taught this year but I do feel much closer. By teaching it forced me to go deeper and really understand what was going on. I had to find the material that I felt would be the most worthwhile to discuss while also preparing to go wherever the students led the discussion.

There were a few books I was not excited to teach as I did not appreciate them the first time I had read them. By teaching these books I first had to discover why I should care about the book and why it was worth our time. I was amazed to find by the time I was done I was in love with every single book I taught this year. As I found that love I was excited to pass that love on to each student, which I know greatly helped in each class.

Another exciting part of teaching was how much I learned from each student. It was amazing to see what they pulled out of the readings and their thoughts on the various subjects. I found my self thinking "How did I miss that" more than a few times.

As a child I started talking much later than normal and spent plenty of time at speech therapists. In elementary school I would spend time with speech therapists and had extra homework to practice my sounds. I can still remember trying to saying "Thermometer" over and over and over again. As I got older I never really thought much about it as I didn't seem to have issues. Through my first two years at the college it was obvious there was an issue with my speech which I had just avoided in the past by avoiding big words. I knew in my mind how the words where suppose to sound but I just could not make my tongue cooperate. As it come time to teach this was a small concern but I can't think of a single time I got tripped up while teaching. I would practice words I thought would give me trouble and I made myself speak and read a little bit slower to give my tongue time to catch up with my brain. They saying "The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one." is very true. Once I was able to recognize the problem it was not to difficult to deal with it.

After I completed my first two years of study here is what I wrote to summarize my experience:

Just finishing up my two year classical liberal arts degree. As I started into this program I felt anger. I was angry because I was not introduced to these ideas and works until I was in my 30s. My anger turned into a feeling a great knowledge. As we dug deeper and deeper my feeling of great knowledge turned into a sense of being overwhelmed as I realized how deep each subject is and how this was a going to be a lifetime work to attempt to get a real understanding. I ended the program with a great sense of accomplishment and an excitement to continue my studies over a lifetime. I am amazed at how much I learned, this has been the greatest educational experience of my life.

After my latest experience I still feel a bit overwhelmed by the amount there is to learn but I am also shocked in how much I really have learned. As I look back a few years I can see how far I have come and how much I have improved in my life and my knowledge. I am still excited to continue my lifetime studies and improvement.