Doing a Little Dreaming

Today, I want to talk about some of my future goals. I'm doing this to prevent ranting about some things I see around me that I most definitely do not want to emulate. I find that focusing on the positive of who and how I want to be keeps me from being as negative as I sometimes am inclined to be. (Friends and family should feel free to remind me of this at any point in which I am sucked into a rant.)

With that said, here we go...

I would like to spend my life teaching in a number of ways. Not all of them are listed here. These are just the three most immediate ambitions I'm contemplating.

I wonder what Cat dreams about?

First and most immediately, I would like to teach in a middle or high school. Currently I work at a University assisting with undergraduate courses (mostly Freshmen), and in general I'm surprised at the massive gaps in their education up to entering the University. I feel like I would be better able to help them at a younger age and in smaller courses. By keeping standards high and personal attention higher, I hope I can make a difference in the skills students have when they step into the university they choose to attend. 

Please don't misinterpret this as an attack on teachers in these schools. I personally had some excellent teachers throughout my education. But I know that teachers get tired. The amount of work to be done often seems insurmountable, and the system seems to undercut many of their best efforts. For more discussion on these types of things you can read this blog. (I don't write Chalk, but I often agree with its content.)

Because of these factors, students often slip through the system unable to read, write or think clearly for themselves. I really want to zero in on those kids who aren't getting the attention they so desperately need.

Honestly, I'm not entirely sure how to accomplish great results for these kids, but I think one on one attention is a place start. They have a lot of catching up to do, and they need to know that there will be a lot of hard work to do it. But I firmly believe that students are capable of attaining much, much more academically than they generally leave high school doing. So I want to jump in with both feet, and really work hard, for basically no pay, after I attain a master's degree in history to inspire, improve, and give confidence to every kid I can possibly herd into a classroom.

I feel like the amount of energy I want to pour into this may not be sustainable for a full 40 or 50-year career. At the point when I realize I am burnt out, I want to stop teaching and pursue something else. If nothing else, out of fairness to the students who deserve all the energy a person can put into their education.

If you have any direction for me in this aspiration, I would greatly appreciate it! (I know I have some excellent teachers and former teachers who may be reading, I am really hoping you'll comment or contact me with your advice.)

There's a second way I hope to spend my life educating, that is with my own children. (No, this won't be happening for a long time, Lord willing.) I know I could catch some flack for saying this so early in my life, but I really want to homeschool my future kids for as long as it's beneficial. (Right now I'm thinking maybe K-8th grade, but nothing is written in stone.)

I get so excited thinking about creative, personal ways to engage them in education. I want my kids to love learning and, I hope that by keeping them home I can really cultivate that desire to learn. I want to make sure that they get unlimited instructional time in areas where they struggle. (For example, if we don't adopt our children, genetics don't bode well for their math skills.) I hope this gives them their best chance at academic success. This is not the only reason I want to homeschool, but it's the one most relevant to this post.

A third way I hope to teach is through public history. I still hold on to the ambition of working in museums and publishing publicly accessible monographs on historical events. I grow so weary of the abuse and misuse of history in political debates, knowing that the public may be just unaware enough to believe what these men and women are falsely proclaiming. I hope that through public history I can promote a more educated public who is less susceptible to the falsehoods they are constantly bombarded with.

Beyond educating voters, I know that people often appreciate the deeper sense of belonging and identity history affords them. It preserves the legacies of people, the reality of their lives and their humanity. Museums especially give people a greater sense of the reality of history. When you can see the actual objects people touched, created and took for granted you can relate to those people and that time more concretely. I feel like it's sometimes a life-changing experience when a person can make that connection. I really want to be a part of cultivating and guiding that experience.

There are other reasons for this aspiration too, but this blog is plenty long as is, so I'll cut it off here. Meanwhile, I'll keep plugging away at these graduate courses and dreaming. Please let me know if you have any knowledge that could help me with any of these endeavors. I'm eager to learn how I can be better, how I can get closer to achieving my goals.