MTC Applicant Qualities

1. Compassionate- First and foremost an applicant must care. They must care enough to be a part of the change. They must be sympathetic to the situation of the students.
2. Tough- An applicant should be tough. They should be able to with stand pressure and stress!!
3. Honest- These are the kinds of people who should be around students. They also need to be able to be honest with themselves and with others.
4. Balancer- Need to be able to balance many tasks at the same time.
5. Role Model- because this is what many of our students need today. Many of our students don’t know the difference between a positive role model and a negative role model.
6. Resilient- They should be durable. This must be a person who can bounce back after failure. Needs to be someone who can pick themselves up.
7. Dedication- Need to be dedicated to being a good teacher and dedicated to changing the lives of students.
8. Prioritize- Need to put first things first!!!! They need to know when helping one student is harming a class.

My Favorite Teachers

When asked to complete this assignment, many of my past teachers came to mind. Some of these teachers were good teacher some were bad. My favorite teachers were all good teachers. They all reached me. The first teacher I will discuss was my fourth grade teacher. Before I got to this teacher I hated school. I spent majority of my third grade year calling home pretending to be sick. My third grade teacher was awful. Well, she was a good teacher, but she was very mean to me. The reason, I think, she was so mean was because in second grade, I was what you would call an at-risk student. I was also a discipline problem, a major discipline problem. As I grew up I always felt bad for the way I acted in the second grade. I actually apologized to that teacher when I got older. She just happened to be a first year teacher that year. And now I know how it feels, so I feel really bad. Since I have been teaching, I have learned that there are reasons for every discipline action taken by students. So this summer I asked my mother if there was something going on in my life during second grade. Sure enough there was. I guess it was something I blocked out all these years. But I now truly know that students that act out are seeking attention and sometimes even help. This provides background to why I hated school so much. My fourth grade teacher, I guess had not heard the rumors about my behavior. She gave me a fresh start. That is when I began to like school and to have confidence in myself. My grades improve dramatically. They went from barely passing to having all A’s. The thing I liked most about her is that I truly believe she cared about her students. I felt special in her class, and I felt as if I could succeed. Ms. Neece was a great teacher. She restored the confidence I needed to a better student. The next teacher I will discuss was my high school geometry teacher. Up until I got to Mrs. Rittenberry, I had never challenged myself in my studies. I took the classes the counselor suggested for me with no fuss. Well, Mrs. Rit saw a better student and a better person. She encouraged me to take honors and AP courses. She even went to guidance counselor and had my schedule changed. She also encouraged me to join the National Honor Society. Because of her, I was the only minority to graduate with honors from my high school in 2002. She rarely taught in class. She would give us problems and we would figure them out for ourselves. When she noticed that I could grasp a concept fairly easily, she encouraged me to tutor others. I began to tutor other students every day before school. Mrs. Rit would spend majority of her class time telling us stories that always ended with a life lesson. She had taught half my family and was well known and respected by many. She was the first teacher one heard about when rising to the high school. People would say I hope you get Mrs. Rit, you will love her. After I graduated I began to tell my younger family members the same. She made me feel as if I was somebody. And I will always appreciate that. Now that I am a teacher I can only hope I can be as good a teacher as these two great teachers.