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50 Reasons to Love Teaching
Featured Author:
Joel
Joel is a band director in Texas. He began teaching in the 2002-2003 school year. His first two years were a self-described horrible failure. Though he knew lots of information, he did not have what it took to push him beyond that. He felt like an untapped reservoir of knowledge, with a bunch of students who didn’t like him, didn’t care what he knew, and usually liked to argue with him until they get their way.
That’s when everything changed. He resigned from that school district right before spring break and made it a personal mission to figure out how to be a great teacher.
Joel currently writes SoYouWantToTeach in an attempt to pass along his learnings to other teachers and future teachers.
Joel
If teaching is the career fit for you, there are countless reasons it’s a job you can love and feel proud about doing. Teaching contributor, Joel, shares 50 of his favorites reasons to love teaching.
1. Sharing personal experiences
2. Helping inexperienced teachers solve problems
3. The ability to help children achieve their best
4. Inspiring them not only academically but personally
5. Getting up on my stage and performing for them, too
6. The thrill of a good and well thought out lesson is incomparable
7. The kids’ energies; their inquisitiveness makes me want to go and teach them, and push them harder
8. I love the instant feedback I get from my students about my own performance, even when they don’t realize they’re doing it
9. Being able to interact with kids who are mostly good and do try to do what’s expected of them
10. Sharing my enthusiasm for my subject matter – you should hear me talk to them about why I love Mesopotamia, even more than the ever popular Egypt!
11. I also enjoy seeing their growth over the nine months I have them; they come into middle school as scared elementary students and leave at the end of the year, as (mostly) prepared 7th grader
12. I love learning and I love the interaction between professor and students
13. My coworkers are great
14. I enjoy all of the funny stories that my job provides, my job is never ever boring
15. When I am finally able to actually teach, I feel very rewarded when that little light bulb goes off
16. Teaching grad school, my students are amazingly dedicated teachers, I have the opportunity to travel across the United States helping teachers and schools work at the grassroots level to improve students lives
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17. Working with the students; each week, I am invited to do demonstration lessons in K-12 classrooms — I love the range, I love the challenge, and I really love the kids
18. I feel smarter every day that I come home from my job; it almost makes me feel guilty that I get paid for this!
19. Facilitating games
20. Being able to explore diverse issues and situations
