ALT-6 What you need to know before you become a Teacher
Teaching is the most noble profession. It's also often the most looked down upon.
It is a worthy calling, but one that requires commitment, patience, and courage. Think carefully before embarking on an educational career.
Loving the Subject is Not Enough
Many people approach education because they think - "Oh, I love history!" or "Oh, I love English!" Well, many of the kids will not.
A teacher should love his or her subject matter, but this alone is no reason to go into teaching. As odd as it seems, the subject matter often takes a back seat to more important concerns - covering simple content, socializing children, filling out paperwork, etc.
It may also be frustrating that the kids do not love your subject on the same level as you. They may not want to do the kind of in depth studies that you would have them do, and you may struggle to get them to engage in the basic content.
Hours Are Loooooong
A lot of people look down at teachers as being lazy. They work from 7:00 to 3:00, 180 days a year. Right?
Wrong. We are officially required to be at school from 7:00 to 3:00 182 days of the year. Work continues long after those hours are over.
Grading papers will often slide into lunch hours and after school. Time needs to be made to meet with parents and to call them with updates on their children. Don't forget that there will be 100+ parents on your roster. Lesson planning, too, takes time... especially in those first few years.
Teaching is an overtime profession. Dedicated teachers put in a full work week and then go home to work most nights of the week. Those vacations - summer, winter, spring - are hard earned, but they too are fleeting. There is always work to be done to get ready for the weeks or the year to come.
Don't Like Paperwork?
In today's world, paperwork has become more important than teaching. You'll find yourself bogged down in attendance reports, grading sheets, progress reports, parent logs, lesson plans, and much more.
Every day you'll get memos with instructions from your administrators and every week you'll have logs and memos that you need to send back to them. Life would be a lot easier if every teacher had a full time secretary. Too bad it's only the administrators that get those.
Be Ready to Fail
Not every day goes well. You may think that every lesson is planned perfectly, but some days things will go wrong. Maybe a student is having a bad day. Maybe they just aren't interested in your topic of the day.
Be prepared for the fact that some days will simply flop. Don't take it as an insult - take it as an opportunity to learn. Why didn't it work? How can you do it better next time?
There are many uncontrollable factors in the education world, and it can be hard for a perfectionist to survive.
Follow Your Calling
If you feel that teaching is your calling, go for it. But know what you're up against. Teaching is a wonderful and rewarding profession, but it isn't for the uncommitted.
To be a good teacher, you need to be courageous - you should be ready to try new things, fail, and try them again. You need to be patient - kids are trying, and it will take all the patience in the world to deal with 100 of them on a daily basis.
Finally, you will need to be committed. The kids come back every day, so you'd better come back with a plan every day too.
