I TEACH
I love being a teacher in a school. There is nothing else that I want to be doing at this point in my life. This does not mean that I enjoy every aspect of my job. There are certainly aspects that I could do without, but the positives far outweigh the negatives for me. This is my dream job. It has always struck me as remarkable and fortuitous that I am paid to do a job where I get to have so much fun.
But it’s not just the joy of teaching your subject specialism– you can do all kinds of other things: play in the orchestra, watch or direct a drama production, go on school trips around the continent and around the world, coach a sports team; get involved in debates; set up a club where students help you do something you want to do. And so on. What other job is like that, affording so many opportunities to engage in your passions and to share them with other people.
You must be thick skinned, hard working, diligent, flexible, and creative to be a good teacher. It is not a job for just anyone. There are days that I question my decision to become a teacher. However, I always bounce back knowing that the reasons I love being a teacher are more powerful than the reasons I hate it. With the teacher’s day celebration this month, it’s the perfect time for us to recognize (and remind ourselves) why we absolutely love what we do.
Please share why you love teaching (that is, if you are a teacher).
Posted on October 10, 2014, in Uncategorized and tagged dream job, Education, Fulflllment, School, teacher, Teaching. Bookmark the permalink. 16 Comments.
Ezar's Chronicles 
I teach because, for me, it’s the most effective and most enjoyable way to change the world. That’s the bottom line: We need to change this world, and this is the way I’m choosing to do it. Teaching allows me to work on hearts and minds, to guide people in becoming empowered, literate, engaged, creative, liberated human beings who want to join in this effort to change the world.
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I’m seeing students I taught in elementary school and middle schoolgraduate from high school, discover their skills and passions, and go to college. I always knew they could do it, and now they’re doing it. That’s why I teach.
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From the things your students say, to the curriculum you teach , every day will be different. It is rare to have a non-eventful day while teaching (especially when working with children). I love the excitement.
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Ezar, it seems that the public education system in Nigeria is lacking compared to other countries because we just don’t have enough passionate and motivated teachers. I want to teach beyond what the state wants. I want to go a step further and explore other areas that are not in the curriculum. I want to enhance the public education system by motivating my future students. I want them to want to learn. It is my hope to help them make a better life for themselves by encouraging them to pursue a higher level of education after graduating secondary school. We’ve all had good and bad teachers that stick out in our educational career. I aspire to be one of the good ones.
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As a mother, I get the same days off for holidays and school breaks as my kids. I tend to bring my work home with me (grading papers and planning lessons), but lm still be able to spend a little extra time with my family.
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From the time I started teaching, I was less interested in being a certain type of teacher and more interested in showing the students that they had worth and value. I believe that the true purpose of a teacher is to prepare kids to be good citizens of the world–to be satisfied, well-rounded human beings, which is not entirely about knowledge. A great measure of success is your ability to think critically and be intentional with your life.
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I had an excellent education growing up and was raised to believe that I could do whatever I wanted to if I just put my mind to it. And that’s the same thing I want for my students.
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I almost hate teaching. Teaching is devouring me. Literally. Since I’ve started, I’ve lost 14 pounds living on a diet of grease, sugar and caffeine. Every morning, I wake up two hours before my alarm, heart pounding because what if? What if the lesson plan falls through? What if the boys in the back fall asleep again? What if I run out of material and I’m left with twenty empty minutes? Every month or so I wake up in tears, because I can’t. I just can’t. But there are 30 students waiting for me in a classroom. So I get up and I go. The kids are waiting. So I do my best.
Some nights ago, at 11:00 p.m. a student called me. I was to talking to my fiance after a ten hour day at school, but I took the call because. Because I wanted to be there for my student. Because I was too tired to consider ignoring her.
Teacher. Teacher can you help me?, she asked.
I’m 29. I can barely cook. I wear slip on shoes because most days shoe laces confuse me. I have absolutely no answers except ‘I don’t know’ and sometimes I’m not even smart enough to say that. I wanted to say, Kid, don’t waste your time asking me for help .
But Who says that to a student?
Instead, I lied through my teeth, as I do every day:
Of course, I can help you, darling. What do you need?
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I love making a difference. It is fulfilling to see the aspects that I have a direct hand in making a positive impact on students,teachers, and the school as a whole. I love collaborating with teachers, offering feedback, and seeing them grow and improve in their classroom from day to day and year to year. I enjoy investing time in a difficult student and seeing them mature and grow to the point that they lose that label. I am proud when a program I helped create flourishes and evolves into a significant component of the school.
I love having a larger impact. As a teacher, I made a positive impact on the students I taught. As a principal, I have made a positive impact on the entire school. I am involved with every aspect of the school in some way. Hiring new teachers , evaluating teachers, writing school policy, and establishing programs to meet school-wide needs all impact the school as a whole. These things likely will go unnoticed by others when I make the right decision, but it is satisfying to see others being positively impacted by a decision I made.
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Because I am a teacher, I have learned the following:
I have learned the true nobility of this profession and that I am the most fortunate of all who labor.
I have learned to be many people in many places.
I am Emperor Charlemagne championing the principles of public education.
I am Socrates exciting the youth of Athens to discover new ideas by asking them probing questions.
I am Herodotus, Aesop, and Hans Christian Andersen revealing truth through countless stories.
I am Anne Sullivan tapping out the secrets of the universe into the outstretched hand of Helen Keller.
The names of those who have practiced my profession ring out as a Hall of Fame for humanity, and I have learned that it is my
task to carry on their traditions: Buddha, Confucius, Sun Tzu, Moses, Aristotle, Plato, Jesus, St. Thomas Aquinas, John
Adams, Samuel Johnson, Nietzsche, Booker T. Washington, Susan B. Anthony, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Woodrow Wilson.
I am also those whose names are not known or have been forgotten but whose lessons and character will always be
remembered in the accomplishments of their students.
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Ezar, Im glad you are proud of your prodession. It happens a lot: I’ll introduce myself to a group of people I don’t know well, explaining that I’m a high school English teacher. And someone will invariably respond, “But you’re smart, what do you really want to do?” As backhanded compliments go, that one really rankles. What I find most irksome isn’t even the implication that my colleagues and I are typically mundane or that my work of the last decade has been a waste of my time. The most frustrating thing about hearing that I’m “too smart” for teaching is the counter-productive mentality about my profession that such a comment underscores. Besides, would they want to entrust their children to a dumb teacher?
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Nothing I have ever done has brought me as much joy as I have received from teaching children how to write the past 14 years. Helping young writers grow and mature has been richly rewarding and I would not trade my experiences for anything.That being said, if I were 18 years old and deciding how I want to spend my adult years, the last thing I would want to become is a classroom teacher.Classroom teachers, especially those who are just out of college and entering the profession, are more stressed and less valued than at any previous time in our history.They have to listen to a long list of politicians who belittle their ability, blame them for every student whose grades do not reach arbitrary standards, and want to take away every fringe benefit they have — everything from the possibility of achieving tenure to receiving a decent pension.
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I can’t fully express my joy on reading this blog post.Reading comments from fellow teachers tickles my fancy.
Being a teacher gives me the opportunity of impacting children. Think of the joy that comes from seeing lives changed and positively altered by your effort.I won’t trade the opportunity if being an educator for any thing .
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Reblogged this on Preshinspires and commented:
I am a teacher!
I love to teach!!
The privilege and opportunity you have to positively alter young lives by your efforts is mind buggling.!
The fact that you give joy to a depressed soul,love to a weary soul and confidence to a person with low self esteem is fulfilling.
Think of the opportunity to of being a confidant …..it tickles my fancy!!
What other profession gives you the opportunity to make,mold and mar young lives positively through your teachings.
As a teacher, I am an architect,I design the plan for their lives.
I am also a builder,I implement the architects plan.
I am a disciplinarian..I don’t take rubbish .
I am a soul winner, I redirect their parts to God.
I am a doctor,I give health to their souls
And lastly,I am an entertainer….I make sure my proteges have fun.
Now tell me ,what other profession gives you this ample opportunity.
TEACHING ROCKS!!
PRESH
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I am a teacher,not in a regular classroom,with very few students,nd teaching them the basic rudiments/values of life dat helps shape their destiny.Who am I? A REHTOM(spell frm back to front).
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these are wonderful comments, kudos to teachers
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