Ashayla Byrd

Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow I

Mrs. Dupont 3A

Throughout my academic career, I have found that engaging in service-driven activities has
continued to bring me the most fulfillment. I have decided to pursue a career in teaching and the
educational field because I feel that my greatest contribution to my community and the world at large is to
serve the minds of future generations. The mind deserves to be questioned, challenged, and nurtured.
Because of the training of an incredibly talented mass of teachers, administrators, and advisors, I have
been able to truly grow as a student, a member of society, and a person. I want to serve students in such a
way that they feel inspired to serve the world in which they live with their intelligence, talents, and
passions. Some may say that the influence of a teacher is limited to the four walls of his or her classroom,
but I know that without passionate educators, students would never become the future scientists,
mathematicians, authors, playwrights, visual or performing artists, politicians and influential leaders that
the world will always need.
Often times, students are not taught in the way they should be taught. Every student has a certain
learning style that helps them retain information efficiently. I hope to teach mathematics, and I believe
that there is a wide window of opportunity for catering to every learning style depending on how I teach
my students. For the visual learners, I would be sure to incorporate many graphic organizers and images
into my lessons. Math is loaded with graphs, charts, and tables for them to explore. Auditory learners
would have their fill with mnemonic devices, songs, and vocal explanations of the material taught to
them. Students who learn best by reading and writing will be given plenty of fill-in-the-blank worksheets
and handouts to ensure that their retention of the material is solidified because they are recording what
they learned on paper. Kinesthetic learners have a need to move and experience hands-on learning, so I
intend to make simple dances that help them remember graphs for equations and draw whatever study
tools necessary - within reason - to them being successful with the material. I hope that by doing these
things, my students can understand that they were meant to understand all that is presented to them. They
just have to be given the tools to do so.
I want my students to understand the importance of using failure as a catalyst for future success.
In math, there can be dozens of failures within attempting to solve a single equation. The very essence of
it is failing the know the answer to a problem and working towards finding a successful solution. A
common misconception that seems to circulate is that telling students to fail only makes them comfortable
with it. If a student is in the preliminary stages of learning new material, it is most certainly normal for
them to not be successful. As they continue to learn more and develop, they should strive to succeed and
progress. I am a firm believer in the notion that being stagnant has the worst effect on the mind. I will let
my students know that they will fail. However, I will emphasize the idea that as long as they identify their
sources of error and are sure not to make the same mistake again, they will master the material I present
to them. As a person, I know that I must always strive to move past failure and difficulty in order to move
forward in life. I want to share that sentiment with my students as I teach them.
I am a firm believer in the power of acknowledging the concerns of others and working towards
the resolution of those concerns. A select few of my peers have felt as though their teachers do not place
emphasis on mending the problems they face with the material presented to them. They go through class
with a number of questions, yet they are unable to approach their teacher to address them. I desire to be a
teacher because I am familiar with the uncomfortability of not understanding the material I have been
given. As a teacher, I would make every effort to ensure that my students can conference with me
personally to make me aware of the difficulty they have with the material I give them. Whether it be an
end-of-class pulse check or exit ticket, a space within the classroom reserved for students to write me
notes about their questions, or individual meetings, I want my students to know that they can approach me
 Ashayla Byrd
Virginia Teachers for Tomorrow I
Mrs. Dupont 3A

with any question they may have so that they can continue to build upon the knowledge they innately
possess. I would address issues with a mindset of growth and progression rather than dwell upon past
setbacks and mistakes.
From my early childhood years and onward, I have always known that my dream was to dedicate
my life to serving others. It may not have always been articulated vocally in this form, but the meaning
has remained constant. The educational field has ignited the strongest passion within me, and it has
surpassed all other fleeting feelings I had for other fields of work or study. The mind is such a powerful
tool, and I believe that my greatest contribution to my community and the world over would be to nurture
the minds of future generations. A teacher is like a stone that skips along the surface of a pond, lightly
skittering from one part of the pond to the next. The stone may cease to skip; the resulting ripples may
spread further from each other. The pond has been changed for good. I dream to create change for good.