Passion

We have all had those classes, the ones were you show up, set down.. and I mean really get settled in your seat…. Because the class that is about to start is your zone out time. Yup the next hour of time is yours, to day dream in, to go over the long list of things you have to do tonight or to reflect on the weekend. Way is it this way? Because the teacher of that particular class is so impassionate about their job and their subject that they kill any interest you may have had in the subject. I have definitely experienced teachers like that throughout my schooling days. The teachers that woke up in the morning and had a hum glum attitude, going through the motions, doing the bare minimum to get through the day. It was these teachers that I cannot remember the names of and retained very little from their class, simply because they were so impassionate about what they did. However their were other teachers that made up for these teachers tenfold with all the enthusiasm and energy they brought into the classroom. My junior and senior year of high school I went to the School of Environmental Studies, which is located on the Minnesota Zoo Grounds. I guess the best way to describe the school would be to say that it is a charter school that focuses on environmental topics in a hands on learning style. I have always been fascinated in the natural world and my enthusiasm for the environment increased exponential because of the teachers that I was able to learn from at the School of Environmental Studies. It wasn’t any one teacher in particular, they all impacted me greatly during my two years at the school. Their enthusiasm and passion for the environment was so infectious, and they also taught in a way that made me want to learn more about whichever subject we were working on at the time. They thought of the most creative ways to teach the different subjects in ways that allowed all students to use their different strengths at some point. What I mean by this is that they taught in a way that wasn’t geared towards one particular learning style. And never did they simple stand at the front of the room and lecture at us, instead they got us involved and active in our learning, which really made me interested and excited about the topic. It is because I had these wonderful and enthusiastic teachers that I am an environmental studies major with a concentration in education. I want to inspire and introduce students to the environment in a nontraditional teaching style. I want to show students that learning can be fun and doesn’t have to be something that they feel they are forced to do. I want them to be engaged in their learning rather then seeing school as a time to daydream about thing you would rather be doing.