Zachary Morgis

Field 1
Reflective Self-Analysis
As my first hectic semester as a Secondary Education graduate students draws to an end,
this reflective piece aims at the influences who lead to my educational choice. To start, I went to
a small, failing private elementary school called Pope John Paul 2 school. The year after I left
was the last year for the school. I graduated from a class of just 18 where we stayed in one single
class for the whole day. Since a teaching license is not required in private schools, I experienced
some great and some not-so-great elementary teachers. A teacher who stood out to me was my
seventh grade teacher.
Mrs. Traver, in my opinion, is the reason my classroom of 18 elementary students holds
five aspiring or current teachers. Mrs. Traver attempted her best to create the best and most
interesting concepts to learn. For Halloween we created short horror stories; on another occasion,
we shot videos enacting historical figures. One thing I found every student I graduated PJP2 with
knows how to co-operate with others on tasks. Mrs. Traver created a group system based on the
Harry Potter Houses for which points were earned by positive behavior, good homework, etc.
Students put away any difference and focused on being the group at the end of the year with the
most points. I am still in touch with Mrs. Traver, and to this day she gives the best advice. From
seventh grade on I always took excelled in creative assignments teachers planned. I believe that
with this passion, as an educator, students will love my classroom for all the interesting and
original lessons I aspire to bring to them.

Coming from a low-income household with only my mother, Ive had my share of hard
times. From elementary school and through college, my educators always found time to talk with
me. If it were not for my Government & Sociology teacher, who took time to talk with me for
over an hour, I would not have gone through playing sports my senior year. My mother lost her
job around the startup of basketball. I had a job from my sixteenth birthday to alleviate the costs
of raising three children for my mother. When I turned eighteen, I was offered a substantially
extra amount of hours that would help out my family. Looking back, an additional 15-20 hours a
week is chump change, but at the time I thought Id be able to help my family. The debate to
work or play sports ate at me until I sought to confide in my teacher. I told him my situation, and
we talked for over an hour after school ended and he helped me choose to still play sports, a
decision I am jubilant I made. From the influence of those great and helpful teachers of my past,
I hope that one day I can be the teacher who helps a child in a time of duress. I want to be the
person who made a difference. Out of every honorable characteristic attached to this profession,
this one meant the most to me. The fact that educators shape the future and can have a major
impact, for the better, of children gives me the drive to go through this rigorous educational
program.
Looking back at just this semester, I have a lot of room for improvement in every aspect
of teaching. Any person who says those who can, do; those who cant, teach is full of it. The
job is no walk in the park. My first week of school, I was taken aback by all the complex terms,
legal jargon, learning strategies, etc.. I think you get the picture. For someone with very little
prior background knowledge, the learning curve was steep. I learned that an important weakness
I have is disorganization. This affected me multiple times for assignments for different classes.
As an educator who is responsible for literally hundreds of students, I must make meaningful

steps to not be so disorganized. My disorganization can impede my ability to teach students

properly due to numerous reasons from paperwork to unfinished grading.
An edge exists in my set of skills, my creativity and tech-literacy. They coincide with one
another. For students who do not know a world without cellphones or the worldwide web, I
believe these two skills will let me connect to my students in both content and personally.
Technology offers literally a limitless supply of interesting and fun techniques available for a
teacher to make education refreshing for students. Sites like teacherspaystudents allows
educators to link up and share their works and ideas together. Other apps I have shown in class
like Kahoot can enhance the level of comprehension of any content area.
I am looking forward to see myself grow as an educator and hope I can become the
teacher I imagined in my head as I applied for this graduate program. I owe it to myself, teachers
of my past, and students of my future, to become the best educator I can possibly be.