Dear Zed Omegas:

I understand what you’re going through because I see the same things you do.  I’m a senior studying Spanish and French education and feel much the same way about how our education system has developed. 

My professional education has been lackluster at best and an egregious failure at worst.  My university courses in teaching, with the exception of one foreign language methods course, have taught me nothing. 

My classmates couldn’t care less about your education.  They’re in teaching because it’s “easy”.  And I apologize to you for that. 

I believe that you are capable of so much, that you can foster an incredible amount of change when given the means and the challenge.  But when you have a system in which teachers join the profession because it’s “easy,” give them an inadequate education in teaching methods, and stifle creativity or new methods in the classroom, the entire situation becomes depressing.

I want to do my best for you.  I believe in modernizing our pedagogy to fit your needs, not what worked best when I was in school, or a throwback to the 70s.  I want to be an advocate for you, as you’re tossed around in society as though you have nothing to offer; I believe you’re an essential source of societal change.  I want to be your teacher, to show you that some of us DO care.  Some of us became teachers not because it was easy, but because it was some of the most challenging and rewarding work we had ever experienced, because we’re passionate about passing on our love of our field to you, because we believe that YOU will do fantastic things when given the time and care that you deserve. 

I’m Kyle, and I’m a pre-service teacher also frustrated with the system.  And I think together, we can face the “challenges” of teaching 21st century learners into triumphs.

– Kyle