Marina Wallis
(continued)
I wanted to be just like my high school biology teacher- Mrs. Parkins. She
was awesome! I loved her class and wanted to delve into the same material
with students of my own so I set out to become a high school science
teacher. In my Senior year of undergraduate I visited a high school and
asked if I could do observations. My mentor teacher even allowed me several
opportunities to teach lessons. It was due to her insight and wisdom of
watching me get frustrated that high school students were not responding to
my high level of energy and off-the-wall creative lessons that I eventually
observed a junior high classroom. Wow!!! The moment I stepped into that
classroom and felt the energy of the kids I instantly knew I would become a
junior high teacher. My first year out of undergrad I worked full-time as a
teacher at Lennox Middle School and concurrently attended graduate courses
at UCLA.
I worked at Lennox Middle School for 9 years. I taught science at all three
grade levels, 6th, 7th and 8th. One of my favorite teaching moments was
during the "Family Life" unit when I taught sex education to my students.
Before the first day of instruction for that unit I stayed late afterschool
and rearranged all the desks in the formation of the reproductive system.
Students would file in completely confused by the configuration. I would
then pass out a worksheet with each of the seats labeled with a part of the
system. Oh! to see the looks on the faces of the students as they discovered
which part their desk represented- precious! And then to teach about the
system having students role-play the functions and importance of each part-
they loved it! Just to think that during my first year of teaching I cringed
at the thought of needing to teach sex education and I could hardly keep a
straight face at the mere mention of any of the reproductive vocabulary.
Nine years later I was enjoying the unit and thrilled to get to teach
students what I knew they would remember for a lifetime.
I left the school to become a full-time stay at home mother for my children.
I am now choosing to focus my creativity, energy, patience and love like a
laser beam onto my son Jacob (almost 2 years old) and daughter Natalie
(almost 2 months old). They are my pride and joy! I love my children and
consider it a true God-given privilege to be their mother.
However, an extremely important aspect of my life is continuing
relationships I have formed with certain students over the years. My first
year of teaching I wanted to see immediate change in my students' lives and
decision-making abilities. Only later did I learn that change comes with
patience and the passage of time. Maintaining contact with students over
time has given me beautiful insight into the true impact teachers can have
on a student's life. Usually the impact is not noticeable immediately, but
when students later write letters, make phone calls or visit your home with
the intention of sharing their life with you, it is a true gift from heaven.
This is why I now LOVE being an instructor of the UCLA California Teach
program- to provide insight and direction with others who may also choose
this very noble profession.