On Teaching...

Once upon a time I was a young unergrad studying to become a teacher. I remember vividly one morning during my Education Psychology class the professor asked why we wanted to become teachers. This started a lovely conversation about going into education because of the love of children. I gag a little to this day when reflecting on the story. At the time I didn't know why it bothered me so much, but I do now.

I feel sorry for the people who entered teaching because they "love kids". I also feel sorry for their students. See, if I was a teacher simply because I loved kids I would be a lousy teacher. People connect differently, and some charismatic people are simply delightful to be around. Those delightful children are easy to teach. Something about them endears them to teachers. My work, and the work of all teachers, is to teach all students and we have to work harder at teaching those that we don't just naturally "love".

Teaching is the best profession in the world. (I'm not biased at all.) Teaching is woderful because it is about learning, creating a desire and hunger for learning. It is about witnessing the moment concepts make sense, the lightbulb goes on, and another human being gets excited about learning. It is wonderfully challenging figuring out a way to ensure all the students walking through my door get the same opportunity reach their potential. I wonder how many of those people who loved kids are still teaching...