"Everyone who remembers his own education remembers teachers, not methods and techniques. The teacher is the heart of the educational system." -Sidney Hook
Growing up, I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. The idea of cracking open a book and learning, being surrounded by school supplies, and helping others grow were all elements that I instantly fell in love with at a young age.
Working with children is something that evokes a lot of patience, but something that can also be incredibly rewarding. Seeing a student have their lightbulb moment, having them be able to master that difficult math problem, or be able to overcome their fear of public speaking and present to the class are my favorite personal victories. There is no better feeling of seeing that your hard work and belief in them made an impact.
These moments can be seen through your student's "Ah-ha!" moments. The times in which you can see the lightbulbs going off simultaneously in your classroom. These are the moments in which your student's "can't"s turn into "can"s all because of your patience, their dedication, and your belief in them. These little nuggets of hope are what keep you believing in the promises of teaching and your place in their lives.
Those moments are also met with the reminders of times that you failed, where you weren’t what the student needed. At night, these moments haunt me, where I have to sit there and remember when I should have been more for the student: more patient, more understanding, more hardworking. I am extremely passionate about teaching, but at times that passion can come across as very strong and be misconstrued as anger or disappointment when a student is not meeting their full potential.
Sometimes, I feel as if these moments are the more prevalent ones. The times in which you were not the most loving, not the most patient, not the role model that you should have been. Not explaining things correctly, not providing the proper moments for them to shine, not listening to their needs closely enough. Leading your students astray when you thought you were guiding them to success. Working with students just to see them fail that test, all because you couldn't make it work out for them, you couldn't help them connect the pieces.
Teaching has been labeled as “thankless job,” meaning you will never hear of the impact that you made on a child’s life. You will only ever hear about your teaching when you make a mistake. For someone who is a complete perfectionist and is way too hard on themselves, this is a constant blow to my self esteem, leaving me with a moment to give myself a much needed pep talk to help build myself up again.
Teaching is something that has been the best career choice, but it does come at a cost. All you can hope for is that your moments of fault are outnumbered by your moments of inspiration and positive impact on a student’s journey.
