Why do I do it??

Visit tense teacher to see my inspiration for this post!

Why do I continue to teach?

I had begun to address this very question in my post on March 2 and I gave the impression that I was second-guessing my career choice. Now that Spring Break is halfway through, another perspective is in order.

Teaching is an unappreciated profession but I knew that going in. Intrinsic rewards stimulate me: seeing the “light bulb” go on when a student understands something for the first time! Students DO have that ‘quest for knowledge’ but it is for me to unearth it. It is like a geological dig requiring lots of time, patience and creativity.

When I was doing some much needed house cleaning, I found some notes I received from the principal during my rookie year as a teacher. I hadn’t seen them in years and it is rather coincidental that I found them now. They are just the incentive to keep me focused for the rest of the year.

The best reward is having former students stop you at church or the mall and say: “you were the coolest/best teacher” or “remember when you let me teach class for the day, I am going to be a teacher, too!”

When I can no longer continue to connect with one, then it is time to hang it up.

"We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit."

e. e. cummings

~butterfly angel~