Saturday, January 21, 2017


Jeanette D. Bergeron


Characteristics that would help me to succeed in teaching in a high-need school. 
My mission and my vision is to equip students for life; by challenging them to excel in arts, academics, and career preparation. Being a life-time learner, and teacher, I believe that every child can learn, and should be given the opportunity to become successful. Instead of teaching and instructing, I awaken and inspire students to perform and do the best that they can, and be anything they want to be in life.
Children possess multiple intelligence. I want to be tomorrow’s teacher in today’s world of teaching and learning. I am dedicated to the profession and committed, and I continue to strive for excellence. As a young child, I fell in love with education, when I participated in the library summer reading programs; I read a certain amount of books per week, just to get a flower stamp on a card. Of course, we would get a certificate at the end of the summer. Still today, I take my grandson to participate in the library summer reading program, and children in the neighborhood also.
When I came to work in the city, I never dreamed that a child could come to school hungry. Every morning, I left home after eating a hot breakfast when I was little. It did not bother me to give students lunch money if they asked me for it. If a child needed a ride home, I would give them a ride home in my car. In developing the whole child, a teacher should be able to assess the needs of students, and understand what’s happening at home. Sadly to say that some students don’t have parents at home after school, because they live in poor neighborhoods, and their parents have to work evenings in order to take care of them.
My first grade teacher and my mother wanted me to be a teacher. I grew up in a small town, there the teachers were highly respected. I avenued into other areas; management, but found that they were right. Teaching is more rewarding. My first grade teacher lived next door, and sometimes I would spend the night at her house. Her teaching style and her morning song has stayed with me all of my life. She retired after 36 years of teaching. The administrators and teachers had requested me to stay home and work, but I wanted to live in the city, so I moved away.
For some reason, Greek Mythology was my favorite subject. I love it today still, it is mystical. Today, Harry Potter, is one of the favorites that students like. My mother would buy me a book of paper dolls, and I would design more clothes for the dolls, to help accessorize their wardrobe. After reading a book about a little slave girl that would hide in the barn and write poems, Phyllis Wheatly. I started writing my own about the moon and stars. They were never published, just moved to the garage. When it rained, they got destroyed, because they were on notebook paper. Today, one of my daughters is in a Poet club, and write poems for different occasions. She wouldn’t spend 25 dollars to get her poems published in a book.
As a teacher, I can change the world, one child at a time. By using technology, the world is at our fingertips. Thanks to the internet. There are multiple technological programs that allow students to become creative. Creativity changes the world. However, in high-need schools, there is less funding for technology, and some students don’t have computers at home. Every classroom that I have worked in, are students that still today call me their teacher. This lets me know that I helped them in a positive way, and they remember what I taught them.