Why I Love Teaching, and Advice to New Teachers
Since I started student teaching until now, my reason for loving my job has remained the same. Of course, I love it because it makes me feel useful and the students are interesting and often very funny and some of the most wonderful moments happen inside the classroom – I love, especially, that “light bulb” moment when the students collectively breath “ohhhhhh” after finally understanding a concept they had worked so hard to grasp.
Most of all, however, I love the fact that I can have something going on outside of school that’s really bugging me, or I can have a terrible weekend or a terrible morning, but as soon as those students walk into the room, they smile at me and say “Hey Miss, how are you?” and, every time, without fail, I’m able to smile back and say “Fine! How are you doing?” Of course, they always launch into a story about something that happened to them before they got into your classroom, and just listening to that, knowing that they are comfortable enough to share with me and just knowing that they want me to know what’s going on with them, is enough to make whatever is bugging me go away for just that little while – at least until the end of the day.
Many teachers dislike the fact that you really cannot leave your work at work as a teacher, but, personally, I find it much more valuable to be able to leave your home at home when you come to work, and after a day of silly student antics and those wonderful “light bulb” moments, it almost always makes going back to deal with whatever is bugging you that much easier.
New teachers – and veterans, too – you may not agree with me on this. However, my advice to you would be to find something you love about teaching and remind yourself of it throughout your career. It is so easy to become one of those teachers that complains about the job or complains about the students or begins to sell the students short, but it is a true gem of a teacher that keeps it positive and finds nice things to say about every single student, no matter how obnoxious or stubborn they are at times. Those teachers are few and far between. I urge you, new teachers, to be that teacher – the one that has something nice to say about every student.
This isn’t to say that you should never point out ways students can improve, or that you should never let yourself complain or be frustrated. Of course you are going to be frustrated and want to vent that frustration! And that’s absolutely OK – it’s probably very healthy. However, it’s easy to start that venting and let it slip into constant negativity, and that is dangerous, especially early in your career.
New teachers, I hope you take this to heart, and veteran teachers, I hope you’ll share some of your advice for new teachers in the comments! This is, honestly, the best piece of advice I have to offer you. Well, that and never underestimate the power of a full moon. 🙂