A Letter to Me

Recently I wrote a letter to my future self using the website FutureMe about what I have learned throughout my education about teaching, and what it means to me. The letter I wrote is below:

Dear Future Daley,

By now you are probably off teaching somewhere and have forgotten that you sent this. I have learned so much at the Mount, and I am sure you have learned even more since I wrote this. So far what I have learned has been about how to be a good teacher, and how sometimes things that your teachers of the past used worked against contributing to your learning. One of the most important things I have learned is that teaching needs to be creative and imaginative. It's time to be done with boring textbooks and lectures. Students need to be excited and engaged in order to learn! Throwing information at them will not get them to learn. They need to be able to digest what they're learning, and it is your job to help them develop the critical thinking skills they need to be able to do that. This is where your strength lies. You have always been good at thinking of creative and even metaphorical ways of presenting information, and I am sure you will come up with many crazy ideas for your classes. You are also incredibly passionate about what you do, and I hope you never lose that, because that is what will drive you to be the best teacher you can be. Your weaknesses lie in getting overly involved in things that don't matter to you, so just be careful where this road leads you as a teacher. My advice is to continue loving what you do, even if that means you need to change what you are doing, and to always try your hardest for every single child in your class no matter what, because they need you and look up to you. You will make an amazing teacher.

From Daley (6/11/19)


I think this is a very beneficial experience because it allows us in the future to look back and not only see how far we have come, but also reminds us of where we were and what our expectations were. This can help our future selves remember where we wanted to be, and reflect on either how we got there, or whether we strayed from our path at all. I am excited to see what I think and where I am when I receive this letter.