Five Questions- Part 4 and 5

The challenge ends here...


4.  Give four reasons why you remain in education despite today's rough culture.

Teaching has been really the only career I've had.  Yes, I had other jobs in fields like personnel, mortgage banking and unemployment insurance...but they were just jobs.  I didn't feel the urge to learn more about the mortgage banking world.  I enjoyed my time in personnel at the Smithsonian Institution but didn't find it particularly challenging.

I'll admit there are days that I wish I worked in a less challenging field but overall I can't think of a better place to be.

Yes, my job as a classroom teacher is challenging, but that's what keeps it interesting.  Sure there are many things happening in education that  I disagree with,  but I enjoy the overall challenge of bringing out the best in each student.

I look at each new school year as a new work project.  I can spend some time looking at data on my new students before we meet but find that data means very little until I spend some time with the faces and minds behind all the numbers.  I am so lucky to have almost 10 months to make a change in their lives.  Maybe I'll introduce them to a book that becomes their all-time favorite, or maybe I'll make them see that they are writers and readers.  Hopefully, they will leave my classroom with a better understanding of who they are and who they can be.

I like that my "project" comes to an end each June.  At the end of the school year I can smile (big smile) and wave goodbye knowing that I've done all I can to move each student forward.

When people ask me what I think of teaching I always say I love my job...and then I add,  I don't love every day of my job but when I put all the days together I find I have many more days that I love than those that I don't.


5.  Which five people do you hope will take this challenge by answering these questions?

I've never liked chain letters and the like so I'll just say if anyone out there is looking for a reason to think about their own work in education this might be the challenge for you.  Try it!