Reflection #1

An event that has influenced me in some way in relation to education would be way back when I was between the ages of 8 and 13. Every summer my brother and I would go visit our dad for an extended period of time. He lives in South Bend, Indiana. His wife, Lori, is an elementary school teacher and we spent most of our time with her due to the fact that our dad worked during the week. My brother and I both really enjoyed spending time with her. She always seemed to have something fun planned for us to do. We used to do chores for a dime a piece and when we would get ten dimes we could go to the dollar store and get something. We loved it! After a while she incorporated reading into our money making business. She had us read books that were at our level and take an AR test of some sort and we could get dimes that way too!

When I got a bit older, around the age of 12, and we would be out of school but her school was still in session, she would allow me to come into her classroom to help her out. I did a lot of random tasks for her. I enjoyed even doing clerical work. I found myself loving every second of being in her classroom! Every chance I had from that day forward, I went into her classroom to give spelling tests, work one-on-one with her students having trouble with vocabulary, or just help her grade papers. Sometimes she pays me now, though I never expect her to because I'm sure that I enjoy it just as much as she appreciates my help.

I guess this isn't one particular event as much as it is an ongoing event that I started a long time ago; however, it has been very influential.