A Fish Out of Water

What would you call a fish that loved being out of water? My first thought would be to say “a dead fish,” but that would ruin the point of this analogy. You see, I’m a guy in a major full of girls…and I LOVE it! The major, that is…not the…nevermind. Many people might consider a guy in a girl-dominated major a fish out of water (or maybe a shark on the hunt in a pond full of minnows…I guess it depends on how you look at it), but I feel right at home learning about how to teach elementary school kids. The truth is, though men are grossly outnumbered in the elementary school setting, they are still just as capable as women. They bring unique enthusiasm into the classroom, and they’re able to influence children in ways that women can’t. Positive male role models are a dying breed, and they are desperately needed in schools. But before I “amaze” the world with my revolutionary ideas about how to save the universe through education, I want to take the opportunity to first share a little bit about who I am and why I decided to pursue a degree in education, particularly at the elementary school level.

Unlike many education majors I know, my desire to become a teacher did not begin in my youth. In fact, it wasn’t until after I served a two year full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that I even considered the idea. There were certainly many experiences throughout my life that influenced this decision, but it was my mission that made the greatest impact. There are so many things I loved about my mission, but the experiences I cherish most are the opportunities I had to teach people about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and to witness the miraculous changes that this glorious message inspired them to make in their lives.

One of the most memorable of these experiences was with a man named Paul. When I first met Paul he was an atheist. But after a few months of teaching him about the wonders of Heavenly Father’s plan of happiness, he developed a deep faith in God and a desire to pattern his life after the Savior’s. It was very special to see how much his life improved after he began living gospel principles in his life.

I also gleaned from my teaching experiences the fact that truly effective teaching is motivated by genuine love. My ability to reach into people’s hearts and minds was magnified when my efforts were driven by love and by a deep desire to serve them. In my last area on my mission, I taught the Tetro family. They are a sweet family of five, and I grew to love them so much. I wanted them to enjoy the same blessings and happiness with which the gospel of Jesus Christ filled my life. This love is what drove me to challenge them to accept baptism, which they did. A year later, I had the privilege of being with them in the Portland Temple as they were sealed together as a family for time and all eternity. I realized that my love for this wonderful family is in large part why they responded so positively to my instruction, and it inspired changes in their lives that will forever bless them.

When I returned home from my mission, I knew without a doubt that I wanted to continue having meaningful experiences with people through teaching. I have always loved children, so naturally I was drawn to the elementary school age group. As I’ve studied in this program at BYU, I have come to understand that this tender stage of life is the most crucial because it is a period during which children are most impressionable. Children need positive role models in their lives, and they need to be taught early in life that they have great potential. They need to be given the tools necessary to succeed not just in school but more importantly in life. This is what makes a complete education. I may not be a missionary teaching the gospel anymore, but I still have a deeply-rooted love for people, children in particular, that I can use to help them reach their potential.

So am I really a fish out of water? If I am, then I guess I’ll be the first one to learn how to thrive. I’ve never been one to blend in with the crowd anyways. Every pond needs variety, so I’m out to prove that sharks and minnows can learn to appreciate their differences and build upon each other’s strengths. After all, Dory and Bruce learned how to get along pretty well.

Opportunities to Grow

 

When I signed up for the Art for Elementary Teachers course last semester, I had mixed feelings. Before taking this class, I believed my artistic skill didn’t extend far past stick figures and coloring in the lines. I was excited for the opportunity to gain some artistic ability and learn how to incorporate art into the classroom. This class helped me realize that my ability to create something beautiful hadn’t shriveled up and died.

As wonderful as the end result was, getting there was extremely difficult. This class was one stressful roller coaster ride. Projects took a lot of time, creativity, sleepless nights, and emotional breakdowns. I struggled and about a week into class, I was wondering how it would even be possible to make it through with my sanity intact. However, due to the confidence our professor had in her students and the reasonable expectations she set I started to believe these tasks were doable. What appeared from a distance to be a big, tall, scary Goliath, turned out to be not so big, tall, and scary.

My point in sharing this is to ask this question: Isn’t his the kind of environment all teachers should create in their classrooms? As a student, it might be hard in these moments to see challenging assignments as an opportunity to grow, but if we stop and think about it, we realize the classroom should be a place where students are given obstacles to overcome with set expectations and instructions to guide them through. Students need to be challenged and stretched because that’s the only way they will become stronger.

As difficult as my art class was in the moment, I gained confidence in my creativity, improved time management and effectiveness, and worked hard under pressure. Some teachers, in an attempt to make students feel more confident about their abilities, do the exact opposite and won’t present tough challenges. They don’t want children to become discouraged or disappointed in themselves if they struggle. Although this action has good intentions, the end result is only harming the students. Students who aren’t stretched to meet demands from teachers haven’t built confidence in their ability to work hard and do things they didn’t think they could. All it really does is give students the short end of the stick when it comes to life.

You can’t protect students from struggles or failure in life, so you shouldn’t do that in the classroom. We believe our Heavenly Father sent us to Earth to prove to him that we can work hard and make correct choices. This life is full of trials and no one is exempt.The end results, however, are worth every struggle we go through. Do we not think of Heavenly Father as loving even after He sent us here to endure challenges? Then how can we, as teachers, best show our love to our students? We need to help them reach their potential by offering challenges. Don’t put limits on students’ success by protecting them from struggle. Instead, let them struggle! Encourage them and tell them they can do anything they put their mind to. Praise them for their hard work. Help them see that they can accomplish “impossible” things.

 

Excited about Education

Back home in Gilbert, Arizona, all 6th graders are required to do a report on a different country. When my 6th grade sister, Andie, decided to do her report on Spain, the country where I studied abroad a few years ago, I was so excited to share what I knew with her. I told her all about the geography of Spain, listed some of the important tourist sites, and, of course, went into great detail about the food. Andie dutifully took notes as I went on and on about the country I had grown to love, and I sent her on her way, happy I could enlighten the world with my vast amounts of Spanish knowledge.

Fast forward a few weeks to a conversation I had with my mom. She had gone to Andie’s country report presentation and told me all about it. It turns out my little sister is quite the public speaker—poised, eloquent, and maybe even the tiniest bit sassy (something she definitely learned from yours truly). After she presented her information, the class was encouraged to ask Andie questions about what she had just presented. One of the boys in her class (being a true boy) was fascinated with the bull fights and how they worked. Apparently Andie, with no notes in front of her, proceeded to explain the brutality of bull fights, the various stages involved during a fight, and the controversy surrounding this historic tradition. My mom and I were both shocked. Yes, I had loaded Andie with all this information when we had talked, but I had no idea that she had actually been listening! Apparently, she had found value in what I had to share with her.

As an English teaching major, I often wonder if my future students will appreciate what I have to share with them. When I tell my friends that I plan to teach English, I generally get stories about how much they hated English or how useless it was in high school. I’m sure this is a common occurrence for future teachers of any subject, and sometimes I wonder if anything I do will actually make a difference—how can I avoid making students feel like the year they spend in my classroom is just a waste of time?

Although I have these worries, my experience with Andie gave me hope. At the time, it seemed like all Andie wanted was the minimum information—to jot down the required notes and be done with it. But because I went beyond what was required and shared something I was passionate about, she too became excited and internalized what we had discussed. Maybe as a teacher, I can make my students see the value in what I teach and create a few more English enthusiasts.

The Mystery of EIME Revealed

I’ve worked as the Program Coordinator for the Educational Inquiry, Measurement and Evaluation program for about a year now. My uncle, TJ Bliss (who just graduated from the program two weeks ago), introduced me to the program when the position opened up. I can’t believe it’s already been a year since I started working with this incredible program. I’ve been so impressed with the caliber of students, the passion they put into their research, and the extraordinary results their hard work earns them.

When I started working with EIME, their admissions process for the 2012-2013 school year was just wrapping up and final decisions were being made. I was informed of the requirements for admission, but otherwise my involvement with this process was minimal- I learned the new admittees ‘ names and their needs that should be met before August. I worked with those five new students and learned about the program with them for the first few months. I quickly learned how important it is to find a perfect match when searching for graduate school; each of these students is unique, and all come from different backgrounds, but each fits perfectly into the EIME program. Newer students work with older students on research projects, homework assignments and even understanding questions asked in class. Each student has their own objectives and research subjects, so these topics vary widely across the program. Research methods, however, can be applied to any number of different fields so it works for students to collaborate on projects. Collaboration on research projects turns into friendships and collaborations on anything else- party ideas, family event plans, and really anything you can think of. It’s a small family in EIME!

To help orient students and give them a concept of what they will do with their education after graduation, weekly seminars are held for new students. The speakers at these seminars come from any of three categories: students who are further along in their program, professors from the program, and other guests from fields who explain potential career opportunities for EIME students. I have been absolutely fascinated to learn from each one of these seminars. I’m about to graduate with my bachelors degree in Public Health, and I didn’t anticipate any sort of crossover from my field of study to their field of study.  But I have learned so much, and I’m not even a student in this program! I was most interested in a seminar given by the director of research at the MTC- he was heavily involved with research on missionary age and the evidence that went into making this decision. He worked in tandem with one of the EIME students who has done incredible work on language acquisition, and now that she has graduated, she works for the MTC.

I’ve found that I’m so proud of these students, and I have very little to do with their actual education! It has been incredible to work with such talented individuals, and I love being part of this program.

To learn more about BYU’s EIME program visit education.byu.edu/eime/.

Alyssa Lindström, a senior in Public Health, works as the program manager for the EIME program. She grew up in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and when she’s not daydreaming about the beach, you can find her involved in music, longboarding, doodling, jump rope, and promoting non-profit organizations.