Teacher of the Year Essay

Submitted By lnsimm
Words: 1052
Pages: 5
Open Document
Religious Experience Paper
Church Newcomer

Each individual in this world belongs to a different culture within his or her society. Everyone holds different beliefs, values, and norms that help build our culture. I recently had the opportunity to look further into the belief aspect of culture. To me, when thinking about cultural beliefs, religion is the first thing that comes to mind. Religion represents what an individual believes in. My recent experience took place on Sunday, September 29th at a Catholic Church in Manassas, Virginia. Driving into the parking lot of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, I noticed that there were only a few parking spots left – it seemed to be very popular. The people walking in varied from elders to young children, coming from all sorts of cultures and backgrounds. I previously took an Art History course where I learned some architecture designs; so I was surprised to see that the church’s design was large and French gothic. Looking at this beautifully designed cathedral makes one feel that they are undeniably treading on sacred ground. Once inside, enormous wooden doors welcome you into the main sanctuary. Once I went into the main sanctuary, I noticed how many people there were at the service. It was so crowded that people were standing in the back; and this was a massive sanctuary. The Catholic Church Service is known as “Mass.” The Mass, the formal, official worship service of Catholicism, is the most important and sacred act of worship in the Catholic Church. Catholics believes in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Just in one ceremony, many elements are included; the Bible (Sacred Scripture), prayer, hymns (songs), gestures, and sacred food. A Mass in a Catholic Church is divided into two topics. These are the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Liturgy of the Word is focused on the lectern where the main vocal parts of Mass take place and is a time where God is thanked and praised. The Mass starts with the practice where everyone taking place in the Mass say's the prayers, "Lord have mercy," and "I confess." These two important prayers are said to ask God for forgiveness, to say sorry for all the things they have done wrong, ultimately to cleanse that person from sin. The people who attend a Catholic Church are called parishioners and they refer to the church as a “parish.” The service began with all the parishioners seated but then they stood and started singing as a precession of people came in. Rev. Michael Bazan, the pastor, was the last to walk in the procession to the Alter. I did not know most of the songs throughout the service, so I just stood and listened. As they were all singing I looked around the congregation and noticed that at Sacred Heart Catholic Church there were a number of different people that varied across many different cultures. They were very accepting of new members to the church, and were very willing to talk to me about their faith. The main focus during the beginning of the Mass is on Bible readings as a primary part of daily and weekly worship. There are three Bible readings, one from the Old Testament, one from the New Testament, and one from the Gospel. There is also the Sign of Peace. I did not know what the Sign of Peace meant as I observed people shaking hands, but soon enough I found out when people started turning to me. It's basically where everyone shakes hands with each other and says "Peace be with you." I felt that was one of the most humbling experiences I had while I was there. It made me feel more connected to the church and accepted within the community of people. In the particular service I attended, the main message I got out of the service was, “Be happy with what you have and appreciate it. Don’t ask God for more when you don’t use what you were already given.” I really enjoyed the message by the priest. There
Show More

Related Documents: Teacher of the Year Essay

Why Teachers Are Paid

556 a year according to a survey done by National Association of Colleges and Employers. If you remove education majors from the equation, the average jumps up to $52,297 per year. In fact, this same survey found that on average, students who graduate with a bachelor degree in education made just $34,891 as a first-year teachers (Poppick). It is not surprising then that in a country where the cost of college is skyrocketing, less and less college-graduates are becoming teachers. Since teachers are…

Words 1009 - Pages 5

Early Career Mentoring

Early career mentoring programs have been implemented and reviewed for many years. Mentoring has been viewed by researchers as an effect method for teaching novices a variety of essential skills (Schweille, 2008). Expert teachers guiding novice’s development of knowledge and teaching practices, as well as nurturing the self-development of learning to grow and learn independently based on their own practices and experiences are common conceptions of what occurs in mentoring programs (Schweille, 2008)…

Words 1068 - Pages 5

Benefits Of Year-Round School

Year-Round School Is year-round school more beneficial to students and teachers then the normal school year? The traditional school year features the long 3 month summer break in between school years. Year-round school schedule features frequent breaks during the year but goes through the summer as well. Both schedules are the same length of school days and how many days students and teachers receive off. Although the traditional school seems to be working fine, having Year-Round school is more…

Words 562 - Pages 3

Essay about Mentoring: Teacher and Induction Programs

2 The transition to teaching is rarely easy. Sometimes hired at the last minute, new teachers are left isolated in their classrooms, and given little help. Therefore, attrition rates among new teachers are five time higher than among experienced teachers.(Archer,2003; Moskowitz and Stephens, 1997). To help with this, a lot of emphasis is being put on induction and mentoring programs. The terms induction and mentoring…

Words 940 - Pages 4

The Importance Of Teacher Education

Teacher education contains teaching skills, teaching pedagogical theories and professional skills. Teaching skills consisted of providing training and practice in different strategies that would help teachers to design and convey instruction, provide proper reinforcement and conduct assessment. Teacher education also consists the effective classroom management skills, preparation and use of material…

Words 7398 - Pages 30

Do We Need More Male Teachers In Schools?

Do we need more male teachers in schools? Recent studies have shown that there has been a consistent female dominance regarding teachers in primary and secondary schools. Data from the Teaching Agency has shown that more men are becoming primary school teachers; there has been an increase in the number of trainee male teachers, especially in primary, by over 50% in 4 years, this is five times the rate for women. From a schools’ perspective, there is a high attraction to qualified males for primary…

Words 473 - Pages 2

Why Do You Think Year Round School Burn Out

Do you think year round school can reduce burnout for teachers or it can cause burn out.A year round school is a school system that has 2 to 4 weeks breaks every 2 or 3 months.Other might say that year round school is bad for students in general.They say that students develop responsibility and a good study habit for finishing task on time.Because kids and teacher are gonna be less stress from school and work and it can benefit teacher. To begin with, kids and teachers are going to be less stressed…

Words 440 - Pages 2

Essay about Australian Teacher

certify or register as a teacher (Australia Teachers, n.d.). In general to register as a teacher one but receive an approved teacher degree or a satisfactory completion of a primary or secondary education of at least 4 full years or part-time of equivalent duration which includes practical student teaching at a school (Teachers Registration Board, 2013). The practical must last a minimum of 45 days. Australian teachers are not perceived to have high social status. Teachers learn at universities.…

Words 409 - Pages 2

Early Childhood Observation

Kindergarten and Elementary School Teacher Calla is a fourth grader who was almost never focused and never turned in her school work on time. When her teacher approached her about it she did not say anything and ignored the question her teacher asked completely. Her teacher noticed that she also seemed very upset lately and asked her why she was so upset . Calla responded that her father had recently past away and she now had to help her mother take care of her two baby brothers and younger…

Words 928 - Pages 4

Waiting For Superman Rhetorical Analysis

Nearly 20 years ago America was at the top of list when it came to education, but now the students of America are falling behind (History). As of today America ranks 23rd in science, 31st in math, and 14th in reading (Eco.). In order to put American students on par with the rest of the world radical alterations should take place to reform the education system. In the documentary Waiting for Superman the director, Davis Guggenheim, claimed that charter schools were a better option than public schools…

Words 621 - Pages 3