Why do you teach?

Describing a teacher's job to someone outside of the education circle is nearly impossible. Between the late nights grading, the weekends planning and the constant flow of changing curriculum, parent conferences, district meetings...the list goes on. Most people wonder why on earth anyone would want to teach.

Through my experience, I have noticed that there is a certain twinkle teachers get in their eye when they talk about their "kids". I still get that twinkle, and I have been out of the classroom going on 3 years. There is certainly something about teachers, the sacrifices they make and the desire to want to see students grow and achieve great things.

This Teacher Appreciation Week, I thought it might be nice to share stories of why we teach or why we became a teacher.

I will start.

I became a teacher because I believe everyone deserves someone in their corner pushing them to do their best, believing they can make it and supporting them when things don't work out the way they should. I teach not to push through a curriculum strand, but to instill a passion for wanting more, learning more and doing more. I teach because of the look students get in their eye when they realize what they can accomplish.

Why do you teach?

Of course...for the money!!!  Its all about the immediate and long term pay off when your hard work, your preparation, execution engages and involves people. The lights going---be it in my methods classes or out in the schools when I teach----is a mega reward. And....be it a student in the schools or a former methods student letting you know that what you did was important to their lives in some way.  I'm thinking of Zach who two years after I taught in his 5th grade class using The Fleetwoods 'Tragedy' came up to me, said hello, and  said, sang "Ohhhhh Ohhhhhhh Tra-ge-dy."  I'm also thinking of Monique who in a World History class this semester was immensely interested in knowing the temperature (thank you iTouch!) in Moscow. And...I'm thinking of several former TTU students who emailed or facebook posted "out-of-the-blue" that they are using what I taught in methods class and its making their professional lives successful.  Can't get much better 'pay' than that!!! James Akenson  Tennessee Technological University Cookeville, Tennessee.

I taught elementary students for fourteen years, and I now teaching teachers how to use technology. I became a teacher because of a love for helping students learn and discover new ideas and concepts. I spend countless hours working on lesson plans, preparing projects, talking to parents, buying supplies, so that I can give my students everything that I could so they would walk away with some knowledge. As teachers, we get to really know our students, no matter what age they are, and we realize that everyone learns differently. I am so glad that I chose this profession because I wanted to make sure my students could learn everything available to them and more….

In college, I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to be when I "grew up." I ran into my high school band director in Wal-Mart one day, and she asked why I wasn't becoming an elementary teacher. I truly fell like my career is a calling from God! I love learning, therefore I love seeing kids learn. The longer I teach, the more excited I get about the day to day functions in the classroom. My goal is to keep my students engage while they become self-sufficient learners.

I teach because I'm a life long learner and education is a career that allows me to feed my passion for knowledge.  I also am very social and the education field gives me the opportunity to interact with many different people on a daily basis.   My mother was a lecturer at the local university and often I would accompany her to work when she needed to go in to prep for labs or meetings so I grew up within the world of academia.   Libraries, labs and science research was part of  my “normal” life and I gravitated to the field of science.  I also know I was involved in teaching from a young age; I taught swimming lessons and CCD classes as a high school student and tutored extensively in college.

I teach because I LOVE to teach. In fact (although I can't remember), my parents tell me that when I was 5, I would make them come down to my basement and teach them the ABCs. When I got a little older, they bought me whiteboards and I would teach my sister every weekend. If I couldn't play, I wouldn't do anything else that weekend! :D In fact, about one third of my flipcharts are from when I played with my sister (although I've added a few slides here and there to fit the cirriculum).

The main reason I teach is because I find it very rewarding. Watching my students enter the classroom not knowing anything about the day's topic and leaving as if they could come in the next day and start teaching it themselves (!), just makes me proud of myself, but mostly them.
I remember my sixth grade teacher having a poster that said, "If you can read this, thank a teacher...".

Hilary Smith

Thanks for sharing, Hilary.  (or should I say Random Person) :)

Your welcome. Sorry about the Random Person. My niece made the acount for me. :p I'm still trying to figure out how to change my name.

I teach as i want to learn and also want to see young kids'happiness when they understand something new that i help them learned.