What Is A Teacher? Think Twice!

As I progress in my training to probably become a future educator, I am learning more and more about how much the teaching profession is greatly misinterpreted by many individuals in our culture today. It is my desire not to change your thoughts about a teacher, but to give a little insight into the role of a teacher’s job. Ultimately, it is my desire to make you (hopefully) think before you speak, post, or share something through communication, social media, or friends and family that may be demeaning to some teacher somewhere who helped you get to the point you are in life today.

When thinking back to my education, many of those who made the biggest difference in my life are teachers (and their influence is still a part of my life years later). If I do remain one, I want to be that teacher who stands out in a student's mind when thinking back on their education in the years to come. While this profession is one that is undervalued or disrespected, I’d probably choose it because I want to make a difference. Even though the profession itself does not include the most difficult tool set, the tools and strategies I am learning are things that I will be able to challenge, expand upon and change for a lifetime because no two students are the same, as is no classroom or grade level from year to year. These tools that I am learning about teaching, guiding, and encouraging students are not something that can be memorized. Rather, they must be understood and built upon with passion and patience. It certainly is also not a profession that pays in monetary value either, but it pays in bigger ways that are substantially life changing each and every day, even on days that I am inside or outside of the classroom.

I have only been a teacher for a lot less than one quarter of a year. I honestly have no clue what those who have paid their dues in this field would say if I already feel this way. I have spent over a month teaching at a primary school in my area. During this time, I’ve also been required to learn and take trainings in order to progress forward through this phase as a teacher. It would be an understatement to say that it is a load because typically everything that has to be taught is not covered in class due to limited time constraints.

Therefore, while learning to be a teacher, I am also learning to become a professional, co-worker, community leader, multi-tasker, planner, nurse, volunteer, and mother to many of my little friends. I am learning that no two days are crafted with the same experiences, rather each day is a block built upon the lessons learnt the day before. Maybe those lessons are considered to be used and maybe teachers become creative and use new methods of engagement when teaching. Even though I can now call me a teacher, I am still learning to teach, modeling teaching with my peers and understudying other teachers, the real world inside the classroom is very different in every school, city and state.

As with anything else, planning and preparation take place outside of the classroom, but judgment of student knowledge and success is mastered inside the classroom. Before judging and devaluing the role of a teacher publicly, it would be of high regards and appreciation for you to place yourself inside the shoes of a teacher, parent, or even an education student before attempting to judge the profession in outlandish ways. Many have no cue why teachers pursue methods of teaching in the ways that they do in order to engage a student, nor do most understand the work that is done before the teaching takes place, and the assessment done after teaching takes place. As with an effective classroom community, effective communication is rendered. So, why not contribute the same effective communication through your community when speaking to or about a teacher?

Currently, I am “attending classes” as if I was a teacher aligned with the typical 6:30AM - 4:30/5:30PM schedule. For those who believe a teacher only works 8:00AM - 2:00PM (I used to be there, too), think twice. For those who believe a teacher is given money to buy necessities, think twice. For those who think teachers work fewer hours than any other profession, think twice. For those who think teachers have it easy and only play with kids all day, think twice. Before speaking or sharing words through social media or in public in derogatory terms about educators, please, think twice.

Some teacher somewhere in this world helped you to get to the point you are in life today. No matter your profession, income, or current education I suggest you take a look into your surroundings while at work because I assume someone is teaching another co-worker something new and some co-worker is learning something new. This goes for preachers, engineers, hair stylists, cashiers, accountants, realtors, nurses, maintenance workers, waiters, and so forth. Think twice!

A teacher is someone who works 24 hours a day, not 7AM to 3PM. While teachers do get holidays, they are still working, learning, planning, earning professional development, and sharing supplies and tool set information with other teachers. If you really wanted to calculate the number of hours a teacher works, it will be more than all other professions (I’m not being biased, my senior colleagues can testify to that. Lol!). The majority of the work a teacher does is at home or outside of the classroom when gathering and preparing notes for a lesson. We teach in the classroom. We prepare to teach outside of the classroom. Better yet, when in public, having lunch at a restaurant, shopping in the market, or at a mall, teachers are still teachers. They are being judged based on the clothes they wear, the food and drink they consume, the way they discipline children, and the way they present themselves because each and every little thing they do is a reflection of the classroom.

A teacher is someone who does not get paid for the majority of the work done in the classroom. A teacher is someone who will never be refunded for what is spent outside of the classroom either. Many teachers do not get paid holiday bonuses, receive raises through the years, or know what it is like to have leave grants. Therefore, the majority of the things they buy for lessons and classrooms are not bought with state or school money. They are bought with personal money. A large portion of single teachers cannot even afford to live alone because of the rate of income; this is considering the income of private school teachers. Public school teachers hardly even make one quarter of that which private school teachers receive. Not to mention, that private school teachers do not receive retirement or insurance benefits.

A teacher is someone who can plan and prepare lesson notes, learning objectives and follow appropriate standards. But if the students do not understand the materials, the teacher has to think on her/his toes and reinvent the wheel, because “if a child cannot learn the way we teach, we must teach the way they learn”. Telling a student is completely different than teaching a student, as is teaching a student completely different than involving a student in his or her own learning. 

A teacher is someone who has to learn to hold it when needing to use the bathroom because s/he cannot leave the classroom unattended. If lucky, s/he may be able to use the bathroom while on the planning period, but typically something comes up or she may most likely forget. 

A teacher is someone who has to learn to eat a multi-course meal at lunch in a matter of five minutes while monitoring the students in her/his classroom not talking, rather eating their lunch. 

A teacher is someone who must teach in order for his or her students to do well on standardized tests in order to keep his/her job. The teacher also has to discover a means by which to not teach to the test in order for the student to learn and evolve into a well rounded student that will be successful in today's society. 

A teacher is someone who must have passion to love, teach, listen, care, and keep on keeping on. S/he cannot just show up to work and expect everything to run smoothly as planned because it typically won't when teaching a classroom full of children who all stem from completely different households, cultures, and backgrounds. It may not always be an easy job, but it is SO WORTH IT. 

A teacher is someone who has the most important job on the market today because s/he is advocating for our future generations. It takes a big heart to shape little minds. The majority of teachers are the only mother or father figure a student will see on a daily basis because many children come to school from an empty home and leave school heading to an empty home. 

A teacher is so much more than just a teacher. S/he is a policeman of behaviour, travel agent scheduling field trips, counselor and psychologists to a troubled or problem filled child, confidant who wipes away tears, banker collecting lunch money, librarian who brings books to life, a custodian who cleans mess after mess, a psychic that learns to guess the answers of the shy or stuttering/spluttering students, photographer for a child’s special days, record keeper for the growth of each student, mother and father figure to many who have neither, doctor of ailing children, advocate for mediating classroom disputes, decorator to attract student interests, party planner, news reporter, detective, compere, comedian, dietitian, clown, and preacher.

A teacher is someone who is defined as one who teaches. But that hardly does justice to a profession that reaches far beyond just imparting some knowledge of skill, for there are so many roles a teacher must fill - counselor, entertainer, motivational speaker, disciplinarian, comforter, mind-reader et al. A teacher is a guardian who must constantly be aware, a mediator who must constantly be unbiased and fair. By whatever means necessary, a teacher finds a way to meet the needs of each child in their care, every day. And their work does not end with a ring of a bell, for teaching's not just a job, it's a calling as well. Despite the weight of the mission, they must be happy to serve. All teachers ask is the respect they deserve. And they know if they have properly played their parts, their success can be found in their students' minds and hearts.

A teacher is someone who puts fifteen to thirty little warm bodies before himself/herself each and every single moment of each and every single day. A teacher is someone who is selfless and sacrifices for the betterment of a child's future. How do you serve your children at home? How do you serve at work? Are you selfless in each endeavor you pursue?

Honestly, this list could really go on and on. However, I hope my point has been made. I certainly am not here to say it is one profession that I love so much, but I know better now to respect it. In opposition for the negativity that surrounds education, I would love to advocate for so many of the children I have had the opportunity to teach – “children must be taught how to think, not what to think”. Otherwise, we only then have mini adults in the future who were taught to speak judgment upon others without understanding the value of how to learn and the purpose of education. For the time being, I plan to learn how to minimally accept the demise our world puts on teachers without the interference of ignorance affecting me at the core.

Teachers are caregivers and we teach because we want to make some type of difference. Quite frankly, I cannot wait to experience more of all the above because I cannot wait to serve as I have been called. I cannot wait to make an impact on a life of another. There is not enough money, time, materialistic values, or negative comments in this world to shut out the passion teachers have. Though there are enough reasons in this world why I should think twice about pursuing a career in the education field, these few months haven’t been a waste at all. For you reading this, I hope you will think twice before bashing the teaching profession. Don’t discourage teachers, help them bloom.