October 27, 2010-What it Takes to be a Teacher and Love Your Job!

     I've been thinking a lot lately about what it takes to be a teacher and enjoy it. As I think I've stated before, it's not a job for everyone.  It's takes a certain kind of person to dedicate themselves fully to working with children every day or even to teach adults on a regular basis. First, I believe you really have to love the learning process and the education field in general. I consider myself a "lifelong learner." I loved attending college because of the discussion groups, the projects and papers, the insight I gathered about myself, life, and the world as a whole through learning about it in all subject areas.  If I could have been a lifelong student, I probably would have been, so the next best alternative for me was to become a teacher, so I could still participate in the learning process with the added benefit of gaining joy from helping "turn the light on" for others like me. 
     Second, I believe you need to enjoy the social aspect of being around children and adults during your working hours as a teacher.  You cannot be someone who has to work alone all the time in order to get anything done or to focus on the task at hand.  What I have discovered over the years though is that you don't have to be a naturally social person outside of teaching, just in the classroom. I am an introvert by nature, but in the classroom, I am an extrovert.  I vastly prefer small close knit groups to hang out with outside of work or even staying at home to hang out more than going out, but in the classroom, I can feel the adrenaline pumping when I stand up in front of the class or move around the help students with projects or activities we are working on.  Teaching is in my blood! Being in front of everyone, at least when I have a goal and plan for what I am doing, comes naturally to me.  Without a plan, now that's a different story, but a teacher without a plan has a classroom full of chaos which leads me to my last point.
     Finally, in order to be a strong teacher and leader in the classroom, and therefore, love what you are doing, you need to be a planner and an organizer.  If you walk into a classroom, especially with young children, but even with youth and adults, and you do not have a plan or a schedule, you will begin to feel like you are drowning, and the students will not enjoy your class either.  Without a plan and organization, stress ensues and is easily sensed and passed on to your students.  I love to plan and organize, but even I have had days/nights where I was not as prepared to teach as I should have been, and those are the times I know I have failed my students, and that's not a fun feeling. However, when I am prepared and organized, teaching is the best job in the world!