Switching Spots by Matlyn

Switching Spots by Matlyn - October 2016 Scholarship Essay

If I could switch roles at any moment and start teaching any class, I would teach 2nd grade math. While I know that elementary teachers cannot pick a specific subject, in a perfect world I would just teach 2nd grade math. The main reason that I would teach that subject is because of the importance of it to the rest of the child's life. I have been a tutor for a girl that attends a high school near me for the past three years. She is incredibly intelligent and most of the time the help that she needs is just some basic explaining. One of the main problems that she faces with her teachers at her school is that they refuse to teach he how she learns. She is a kinesthetic learner and often times math teachers will not even attempt to teach her in a way that she can physically touch. I know that this problem for her started before freshman year of high school, when we started this tutoring. Some of the things that I help her with are just as basic as how to multiply fractions. These are skills that if an elementary school math teacher would have spent more time with her on, she would not be struggling with now. If I could reverse the roles and be any teacher I would teach elementary school children the basics of math. I would make sure that every kid understood them forwards and backwards because basic math is something that will affect children their entire lives.
Another reason I would want to be a math teacher is because math teachers are the best when math is something that does not come naturally. I enjoy math, more than I enjoy most any other subject but I have had my fair share of struggles with the subject and therefore would be a teacher that students could relate to. Math at any level is something that can relate to the real world in most situations. I think it is important to have math teachers and professors who take their job seriously, because what students learn in their classes will have a life long effect on them.