From a young age, people start longing for a sense of independence. Younger children may decide that they want to choose the clothes they wear, their curfew, and other small things. As you get older, it is wise to collaborate with others once in a while. Venturing through life without any help from other people can get awfully lonely. As an education major, I have learned about the importance of collaboration, especially in the field I have chosen to go into.
Often, new educators are assigned a mentor to help guide their transition into their new setting and 'teacherhood'. However, this may seem like a challenge after experiencing the taste of freedom they had in college. College courses for education majors include instruction on creating unique lesson plans to engage students. Courses of these types may leave individuals feeling that they are ready to jump right into a classroom and begin teaching immediately.
This is not the case. Becoming a teacher is a lifelong process because educators are always learning and adapting in accordance to their experiences. Some of the best advice I ever received was from one of my high school English teachers. She told me that a teacher fresh out of college must be confident with the knowledge that they have gained, but not be overconfident to the point where they refuse to let others in to help if necessary. She explained that she made that mistake as a new teacher and quickly realized that she should have initiated collaboration a lot sooner than she did. The hardest part is determining when to ask for help and when to rely on your own skills to get the job done.
I feel that without her advice, I would make that same mistake in the future because I have always preferred to be independent and do things my way. I hope that I get many opportunities to share ideas with my fellow educators in the future and also bring something new to the table in terms of projects and teaching/ learning strategies. Overall, I want my students to see that even teachers need help sometimes and hope that this concept will inspire them to ask for help in times when they cannot do something on their own.
