So, You Want To Be A Teacher?

I have pondered the last couple of months about becoming a teacher.  I feel I have always had a teacher mindset with my own sons.  It has caused me to cautiously model my actions, take opportunities to instruct, know when to NOT instruct, allow them to develop their own ideas and strategies and discipline effectively.  All of these things have been bonuses to me in my teacher journey.  Teaching for me is derivative of being a parent.  Now I know not all teachers are parents, and that doesn’t mean if you ARE a parent you will be a better teacher.  What I am saying is, if we go into teaching thinking of it as a job, then we will soon find ourselves wishing we hadn’t. 

That sounds kind of negative….I know.  BUT, what I am saying is, being a teacher is not or should not be looked at as a 9-5 “job”.  Nor should it be looked at as just having to pass a test, or interview.  Some jobs are like that, but teaching to me is a career…a journey…a commitment.  To be great, you have to submerse yourself in something.  If you are only wanting to “try” teaching, I would say, controversially, don’t do it.  You don’t “try” being a parent (unless you are babysitting I guess).  The point is, to be a great teacher we have to constantly be learning our craft.  That means, we are always going to be learning after college and beyond.  If you want to be a GREAT teacher, you will learn to implement different styles, tactics, pedagogy, life lessons into your classroom.  IF you want to be a GREAT teacher, you will learn what you are teaching (hopefully we already have learned it).  If YOU want to be a GREAT teacher, you will learn the best ways each day and each year for how you teach your students.  Now can you be a good teacher without these things, possibly.  But to do ANYTHING in life that is GREAT that creates a legacy that is above average you have to work hard at it and really love it.  I don’t say all of this to discourage or sound arrogant.  I just believe this is how we make our schools better.  Through teamwork, dedication, continued learning and commitment, we can make our schools even better.  And there are some great schools all around.  Our students deserve the best.  Does that mean we don’t have a life?  No.  It just means we should set aside time to develop our craft, sometimes in real time, sometimes outside of the classroom.

This little rant connects to the NC Teaching standards:  Teachers III • Teachers know the content they teach.  It is important, once again, that we as teachers are well versed in differentiation, DOK, Bloom’s Taxonomy and other great resources to help us make the learning experience excellent for our students.  It also connects to:  Teachers IV • Teachers facilitate learning for their students. Our mission individually and as a team in our school is to create a rich environment of learning that is challenging, fun, and creative.  It should also produce results and pinpoint problem areas that we can help students need work on.  All of these things are doable.  I feel like we have a great start.  That’s just my two cents.