Essay Sample on Personal Educational Experience

Starting in first grade to third grade I attended a private school. It was run out of my parents' basement, there were on average 5-8 kids that would attend with a full-time teacher. Kids from first grade to third grade participated in the Montessori program. The socioeconomic status of the families that attended was middle and high class and they had a lot of access to resources. I had the same teacher for the first few years while I was in private school. My teacher was a newer teacher. She had been teaching for about three years. She is the teacher that I’m the closest to out of all my elementary teachers. I’m still in contact with her today. She made the biggest impact on me. In fourth grade, I started going to public school in an area with a similar socioeconomic status. All my teachers that I had while I attended Edgemont had a lot of experience and had been there for ten plus years. They were all good teachers at cultivating relationships.

As I attended both schools I did well in school. I was usually at the top of my class. My one difficulty was in reading which I had a hard time with throughout elementary school. My fifth-grade teacher noticed my struggle with reading, and she individually helped me. She let me choose the book I wanted to read at my reading level. That one experience shaped much of my later education. I had always hated reading before fifth grade. My teacher helped me and took the time to meet with me and my parents to help me from where I was at not where I was supposed to be. Throughout the years I’ve been very blessed because my elementary years set me up for success. As I continued to higher education I did very well. The experience I had in elementary school helped me with that. I think that compared to my US peers, I had better opportunities than a lot of students are able to have.

My educators reflected all the five moral commitments very well. The two that impacted me the most are Engaged Learning Through Nurturing Pedagogy and Commitment to Renewal. All my teachers did a very good job of connecting with the students in creating a positive environment where I always felt safe. I was able to ask for help and move ahead when needed. With the commitment to renewal, they also helped me be able to think on my own and move forward with a growth mindset. In addition, they did a great job changing their teaching depending on the students in their class.

I attended private school compared to most kids who attend public school. I was different from the national population. The schools I attended were not as diverse. They had a lot more of a white population compared to the national average. They were not as racially integrated as the national trends. When I was in school my school was a bit older. They had portable temporary buildings for a few of the classrooms. I benefited from being able to choose a musical instrument to play while in fifth and sixth grade which is average across the US. My school had lots of opportunities for after-school programs. At the school I attended I think the BYU moral commitment would have been very widely accepted and valued.

I think that a teacher and the public education system have a big role in preparing citizens. One thing I always think about is how if a child has a good teacher and a good start to their life how much it can change their future role in society. As I grew up the teachers that meant the most to me were the ones with whom I had the closest relationship. When they thought of me as an individual and my needs. As a teacher, I want to be able to have that positive relationship with students and build these bonds so I can have the same impact my teachers had on me. I think throughout schools’ kids should be able to have access to everything they need to succeed which is going to be different for every student. This for me is something that seems very hard to balance because everyone comes from different situations. I believe that each student should have the same opportunity. As an educator, it is so important to be active in the community you are working in. It allows you to know the places the children are coming from to help them learn in a way that reflects the way they were raised because not everyone is raised in a middle-class white family. As a teacher, you engage yourself to show you care about the students and know more ways to connect with them. I think that teachers when they work with the teachers around them to be able to refine their teaching practices reflect on what went well and not so well. They can know how to be better for the future and have a growth mindset as a teacher.