Why I Teach

I was vacuuming the other day (one of my favorite past times), and I was thinking about being a new teacher. Upon reflection of my first year, I often think that my students learned next to nothing. My dad told me last fall, "First year teachers are awful." Because I know him, I realize he said this as a fact, not to hurt or scare me. I spent some time with my parents (both are teachers) the other day, and I explained to them how I felt like a total scatterbrain. I mean, those kids had to think I was a nutcase. Passing in the hallway, they probably said, "Ms. Nelson is all over the place today. It's not hard to get her off subject." And sure enough, we were probably talking about Eric Church's latest album. For the record, I did teach... and I'm 98% sure they learned something. 

I have come to realize that if you don't teach, you have no idea what we do. I pretty much want to strangle anyone that says elementary teachers just "play with kids all day." And I know I want to dropkick anyone that mentions how we get the summers off. If only those people understood all the work that goes into teaching. The tactics, strategies, and lesson plans that it takes to pry open the brains of students are endless. 

While this may sound like I'm complaining or justifying my actions, but I'm not. In fact, it is so far from that. I love teaching. I really don't know how else to say that. It is one of the most rewarding, complicated, and exciting professions anyone could go into. There are days when teachable moments happen and other days where I feel like I could fall asleep on my desk. Some days the kids stare at me like I'm going to do a trick, while other days they are fully engaged. 

So, why do I teach? There is no simple answer, but here a few reasons:

1. Do what you love, love what you do. I realize that when people start talking about teaching, my ears perk up. I get excited. I smile. I feel compelled to share my own stories and thoughts. Right now, as I write this, I am grinning like a goofball. I just love it, and I think my students can sense that. 

2. Reading and writing are my passion. Yep, nerd alert. Last year, there were times when I would drop anything to find a kid a book to read. I ordered books from Amazon. I checked books out of the public library. I just really want kids to love reading. As for writing, it is vital. Few really enjoy writing, but people are better writers than they believe. Finding that inner writer is a matter of letting each student tell his or her story. Everyone's story is important. 

3. Kids are hilarious. I mean, seriously. The simple, honest comments that they make often stop me in my tracks. Society sheds a negative light on kids, but that couldn't be more wrong. Kids are so cool. Just listen to them sometime.

4. Teachable moments. For those of you that teach, you totally get this. If you don't, these are the times when everything just works out so perfectly. When I was teaching To Kill a Mockingbird, this happened several times. The students had a lot to say about "walking in someone else's shoes." It was neat to just sit back and listen. 

5. No words for this one: