The Joys of Teaching

She looked around the classroom, enjoying a blessed moment of quiet after the students finally left at the end of the day. “Ashley the teacher, that’s me. ” she said proudly to the empty room. “But why am I doing this? ” she added quietly—and realized she wasn’t always sure of the answer herself. But then she remembered one good reason: she was teaching for Nadia, who sat at the table to the left, always smiled so well and always (well, usually) tried so hard. And another reason: she was teaching for Lincoln, tired old Lincoln, who needed her help more than he realized. She remembered twenty other reasons—twenty other students. And one last reason: she was also teaching for herself, challenging herself to see if she really could keep up with twenty-two pre adolescents at once, and really accomplish something worthwhile with them. She was teaching so she could keep on growing as a person, keep on connecting with others, keep on learning new ideas. That’s why she was teaching.

Why be a teacher? The short answer is easy:

· to witness diversity of growth in young people, and their joy in learning

· to encourage lifelong learning—both for yourself and for others

· to experience the challenge of designing and implementing interesting, exciting activities for the young

There is, of course, more than this to be said about the value of teaching. Consider, for instance, the “young people” that I just referred to. They could be only six years old, or they could be sixteen, or even adults. They could be rich, poor, or somewhere in between. They could come from families who are Caucasian, Hispanic, African-American, or something else. Their first language could be English — or something else. There are all sorts of possibilities. Whoever your particular students are, they will share potential as human beings: talents and personal qualities—possibly not yet realized—that can contribute to society, whether as leaders, experts, or supporters of others. Your job—I am tempted to say your privilege—will be to help your particular “young people” to realize their potential.

Nathan paused for a deep breath before speaking to me. “It’s not like I expected it to be, ” he said. “I’ve got five kids who speak English as a second language. I didn’t expect that. I’ve got two, maybe three, with reading disabilities, and one of them has a part-time aide. I’ve had to more about using computers than I ever expected—there’re a lot of curriculum materials online now, and the computers help the kids you need more practice or who finish activities early. I’m doing more screening and testing of kids than I expected, and it all takes time away from teaching.

“But it’s not all surprises. I expected to be able to ‘light a fire’ under kids about learning to read. And that has actually happened, at least sometimes with some children! ”

As a teacher, you will be able to do this by laying groundwork for lifelong learning. You will not teach any one student forever, of course, but you will often teach students long enough to communicate an important message: that there is much in life to learn—in fact more than any one teacher, course, or book can provide. The knowledge could concern science, math, or learning to read; and the skills could involve sports, music, or art—or whatever. Whatever your teaching is about, its immensity can be a source of curiosity, wonder and excitement, and a reason to be optimistic about life in general and about your students in particular. Learning, when properly understood, is never-ending, even though it sometimes focuses on short-term, immediate concerns. As a teacher, you will have an advantage not shared by everyone member of society, namely an excuse not only to teach valuable knowledge and skills, but to point students beyond whatever they will be able to learn from you.

“OK, ” Jennifer Fuller said to me, suddenly getting almost businesslike in her tone. “Here’s my typical day teaching tenth grade: I get up at 6: 30, have a quick breakfast, get to school by 7: 45 if the traffic’s not bad. Then I check my email—usually there’s at least a little stuff from the principal or some other administrator, maybe one or two from parents concerned because their child is doing poorly in one of my classes, maybe one or two from students—“I’m going to be sick today, Ms. Fuller! ”—that sort of thing. Now it’s 8: 15 and I have two hours before my first class—this term I teach only biology, and I only teach periods 2, 3, and 5. Maybe I have marking to do before class, or maybe I have to get a lab demonstration ready. Or maybe we all have to troupe down to library for a staff meeting (groan…). Whatever I don’t finish in the morning, though, I have to finish after school. But that’s also when I meet with the Ecology Club (I’m the faculty advisor), so I might have to finish stuff in the evening. I try not to do it then, but a lot of times I have to. Whatever happens, though, I always quit by 9: 00—that’s always when I watch TV for an hour, or just ‘vegetate out’ with a book. ”

Whatever you teach, you will be able to feel the satisfaction of designing and orchestrating complex activities, ones that communicate new ideas and skills effectively. The challenge of designing and orchestrating is attractive to many teachers, because it is where they exercise judgment and “artistry” the most freely and frequently. Your students will depend on your skill in these areas, though sometimes without realizing how much they do depend on it. They will need you to know how to explain ideas clearly, to present new materials in a sensible sequence and at an appropriate pace, to point out connections between their new learning and their prior experiences. Although these really take a lifetime to master, they can be practiced successfully even by beginning teachers, and they do improve steadily with continued teaching over time. Right from the start, skill at design and communication of curriculum is one of the major “perks” of the job.

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