Autobiographical Essay

Michael Rostratter

College of Western Idaho

 Educational Background

My education began in a small private school called St. Philips. My class never

had more than fifteen students and the school in all never had more than 100 students

which for a K-8 school in California is tiny. I transferred when I was in the fifth grade to

St. Raymond’s another private school but a little bit bigger than St. Phillips. For middle

school I attended Iron Horse Middle School which was a public school that had over

1000 students. For high school I returned to the private school setting and went to De

La Salle High School.

Now I am in my third year of college courses, yet I would call myself a

sophomore due to the amount of credits I have earned here at College of Western

Idaho. When I think of my schooling I think back to my favorite educator I ever had, Mr.

Bristol. Mr. Bristol was the special needs coordinator at my high school. Due to my

processing disorder I was placed in his study skills class my freshman year. He taught

me basic things like making notecards for a vocabulary test. He also taught me a lot

about responsibility. After my freshman year I was in his study hall but I would also take

tests with him because of my test anxiety. He would see me at my best when I aced

tests to when I struggled. After tests we would discuss what I could have done to be

better prepared. It was then, that I grew the most in my learning journey.

I feel going through school is the perfect way to become an educator. You see

what works in the classroom and what doesn’t. The experiences that we have in the
classroom are often what leads someone into the field of education. Whether they be

positive or negative what you experience as a student can carry over into your career as

a teacher. Through my experience I have learned that having a hands on approach and

bringing positive energy into the classroom leads to success.

Work History
One job that I had which had connections to education was being a flag football

coach. Over the span of three months I coached ten boys that were around the age of

twelve. With being the head coach of the team I was responsible for a couple of jobs

that were necessary with running the team. My first responsibility was sending out a

weekly email to the parents of my players. In the email I would recap the previous

week’s game and give an assessment on how we played and was sure to highlight at

least one positive thing each player did in that week’s game. Next I would remind the

parents of the time of the game and where the team would meet for the pregame warm

up. When gameday came around the league asked that coaches would show up fifteen

minutes before their players were supposed to arrive. In this time I would grab the team

bag and find an open space on the practice field for my team to warm up on.

The players would arrive and the team would start your planned warm up. Each

league had an league representative who required each coach to create a thirty minute

warm up. In this warm up I drew up three 5 minute drills the team would run and then a

list of stretches the players would do to get loose. Along with running drills I was

responsible for making sure all the players showed good sportsmanship and got along.

The goal was to be a role model for the young boys to follow after.
 After coaching I learned how important it is to make sure each player feels

included and the same should be done in the classroom to have the most success. For

example I made sure to give each player the ball at least three times a game so they

would feel just as important as the player next to them. This coaching job taught me the

power of being an educator and how important of a role you have in your

players/students lives. I learned that when you are the example you have to make sure

everything you do is with good intentions because they look up to you.

Another job I had was being the sacristan at my parish. I learned to honor and

respect the values while going about my job. This can be connected to the classroom

because you want to respect all of your students beliefs. Having had this experience I

am always conscientious about the people I am around and the things that I say.

Learning Experience

An educational dilemma that I experienced happened in my junior year of high

school. I was placed in a special program due to my processing disorder where I was

with students that like me, shared a learning disorder of some sort and needed a slower

class pace. I was taking spanish, this teacher was my previous teacher for Spanish 1.

My teacher struggled settling the class down and maintaining a safe learning

environment. There were three instances where fights broke out in the class. Many

students would be on their phones as well during class or talk to their neighbors, which

made it impossible for the teacher to get through lesson plans. This teacher liked to

keep everyone happy and wouldn’t discipline anyone. Then one day the teacher made

an announcement that she would no longer teach in class and so the day before each
test ( the test was multiple choice) she would give the answers to the test instead of

teaching the material. This made learning especially difficult. I tried seeing her outside

of class but there just wasn’t enough time in the day. I used my sister as a resource but

she was only available by phone. I ended up getting a C and decided to stop taking

spanish after that year because I would have had the same teacher and possibly the

same approach to the curriculum. This was especially difficult because at that time I

was aspiring to be a spanish teacher, but after that year of spanish I felt it was

impossible to continue if that was the style of the class. Teachers are suppose to

engage the student into their subject and this teacher drove me away.

To solve this issue the best approach would be egoism. I’m the one who suffers if

I don’t get a good grade so I have to take matters into my own hands and do what’s

best for me. I could hire a tutor, see a different spanish teacher or like I said previously

phone my sister. Now it may seem selfish but in this situation I didn’t really have many

other options.

Why I’m Suited for Teaching

I feel that I am suited to be a teacher for a couple of reasons. First, I love to help people.

When I think about doing a job for the rest of my life I want to wake up with a sense of

purpose. I don’t just want to be a paper pusher. Being a teacher, is important for many

reasons but maybe the biggest reason is, you’re a role model. You see your students

five days a week for around eight months of the year. Ever since I was a kid I’ve

enjoyed helping people by doing something as little as giving directions to something as

education based as helping with someone’s homework. .Second, I was taught be

fabulous teachers as I worked my way through school. I have great examples on what

was successful in the classroom and I took note of that. I experienced what lessons

stuck with me, and I saw what lessons I would avoid using myself because of their lack

of success. Lastly I enjoy the school environment. One thing that kept me on my toes

was school. Whether it was the academics, athletics or the social atmosphere each day

brought on a new surprise. I feel teaching will be the same. Some days my students will

come in eager to learn and other days I will have to work to get them engaged. Each

day will present a challenge that I will be eager to take on.

My two best qualities that match up with teaching are that I’m approachable and

patient. I learned to be approachable through working at my church. I was a youth group

leader. I worked with kids in my parish that were freshman or sophomores while I was a

junior and senior. They would come with questions about their faith or with just the usual

stress of high school. Having been there before I felt it was important to be a postive

outlet for them to reach out to. My other quality it patience. As a student it was rare for

me to understand a concept on the first time it was taught. Looking back I was most

successful when the teacher was able to go over a lesson with me outside of class for

the second or third time. The best way to learn patience is to experience it, and that’s

just what happened for me.

I feel if I didn’t teach I would best be suited to go into being a guidance counselor

at a middle school or high school. I feel I would be able to relate to students and offer

them a safe place to talk. High school isn’t an easy time and there’s multiple reasons.

I’m a good listener and even a better problem solver.

 If I were to go into something outside the world of education I would go into

entrepreneurship. I have always been a fan of “mom and pap shops” or small non

corporate shops. When you walk in you’re greeted pleasantly and you feel right at

home. My two loves are food and clothes. Working as a cook I have found a love for

making food. Food brings people together for multiple occasions and being the cook

makes that happen. If not food I would own my a clothing store. Clothes are how people

express themselves. Clothes make first impressions and those are always important.

Whether it’s black tie or just a day at the park what you wear matters. People enjoy

looking good and feeling comfortable and being part of that equation is an important

step.

Professional Goals

When I think of the future I want there are certain goals I must accomplish. First

and foremost I must walk away from CWI with an associate’s degree. Doing that will

make me eligible to finish my last two years of my education at a four year university.

The next step will be selecting a four year institution. On my list of schools there is

University of Idaho, Grand Canyon University and Saint Mary’s College. The degree I

want to come out with would be a bachelor’s degree in Seconday Education with an

emphasis in English.

To accomplish all of these goals I need to be focused and determined. I’ll need

the focus to do simple things like turn off my phone and commit a couple of hours to my

studies. Even sometimes when it’s a Saturday night I will have to cancel plans to

prepare for a test or finish writing a paper. So that I can have the time to do the
extracurricular activities I enjoy I will have to manage my time. To do this I have found

that setting a schedule for myself keeps me on task and keeps me engaged. Lastly I’ll

need to keep from being discouraged. I have to be determined that even if I fail a test I

can make up for it with the next exam. I will utilize office hours and other resources that

are available to me.

In the short term I plan to keep up with my grades and maintain a 3.5 GPA. This

will give me the confidence that I am ready to teach because to teach something you

must master the subject yourself. As well it will make me more well rounded in the

subjects that I need improvement in. Lastly, I want to learn more about what the life of

being a teacher requires and what it has in store for me. I want to learn more about the

challenges I will face and I want to try to prepare for the classroom setting as much as

possible.

Whether its short term or long term there is still much I can do to prepare to be a

teacher. This excites me because there is still so much I can learn about how to be the

best teacher I can be. The process will take time but all the best things in life take time.