My inspiration,
My experience,
my mum.
When I was in primary school I was the most nervous, shy and timid little girl you would ever meet. I had no confidence, no ‘good’ friends, and struggled to cope with the politics of cliques. It was not until my first drama class in year 7 that a transformation happened. My teacher Ms Ohlsen, was the most beautiful, bubbly and engaging teacher I had ever experienced. She instilled confidence and a positive outlook in everyone around her, especially her students. It was her guidance and encouragement that brought me out of my shell and into the world. A world where I could be creative and show everyone my talent, and be commended for it. That was the turning point for me in my learning. I had found my strength, something I was great at and could succeed in- something that gave me confidence. Ms Ohlsen helped me find it. It’s been seven years and now I’m creating lesson plans with her, sharing teaching stories and still gaining knowledge from this woman who gave me so much. She would come into work every day and be happy. She loved her job and her passion for drama reflected in all her work, and in me. She was the one who inspired me to become a drama teacher. I want to be that person for someone. I want to inspire students and help them discover their human gifts and talents so they can succeed and be happy in the world. I was a shy timid little girl, and now I’m an actor and drama teacher in the making. Her values of positivity, hard work, encouragement and student centered learning underpin everything I do as a pre-service teacher today, and they’re values I wish to carry with me throughout my teaching career.
Catherine Ohlsen.
Ms Boston.
Ms Boston was my high school english teacher for year 8 and 11. She was over 60, rarely smiled, and quite frankly terrifying.Although what I found most terrifying about her was the questions she would ask you in class. Any answer you gave was followed by “Why?”. This would continue until you found yourself looking for another answer, a BETTER answer. However, looking back now, this moment as a learner is probably the most valuable lesson I have received for teaching english. Her approach to teaching was to get “learners to construct, rather than record knowledge” (Eggen & Kauchak, 2007). She pushed learners to create their own knowledge in the topics they’d study, rather than giving it straight to them. She pushed me to think critically about every answer I gave and however frustrating, it would always lead to enlightenment in some form. She gave me the skills to think divergently. This aspect of her teaching will be forever ingrained in my teaching.While exploring character analysis with year 11s for their text response essay, I found myself facilitating discussions and asking students probing questions to help them find the answer. The answer that they know, but need to engage in critical thinking to find. What makes it all worthwhile, as I finally understood, is the light-bulb moment for kids. After all the pushing and pulling, the frustration and continually going over work, your students reach their own lightbulb moment, where not everything, but SOMETHING clicks! And it is an amazing feeling. It’s that feeling that keeps me going with my teaching. She was my experience. And while Ms Ohlsen inspired me to become a drama teacher, it was Ms Boston who gave me a lesson for life.