Why I Like Being a Teacher

by Anita Tue Jan 24, 2012 5:53 pm

I do not know why I have remembered my school times so much these days. I have lately remembered when I played with my sister to be either teachers, veterinarians or police women - I never wanted to be a police woman, though - - my respect to police people. Also, I have reflected on how different my life would be if I had decided to become anything but a teacher. I understood I could not have made a better choice for my life. There were many things I wanted to be: a veterinarian, a biologist, a psychologist and a graphic designer. And I guess I would have been a happy professional if I had indeed chosen any of these paths. But there is one thing you can bet for sure: I do not regret being an English teacher.

My sister's and my own inspiration to become language teachers began when we were about 15 years old. We had excellent language teachers in a language institute where we studied as well as an amazing English teacher in our school. They were inspiring, they let us see that a language is more than a subject, more than knowledge: a language is a way of life. These very professional patterns were inspiring enough for us to go for the same option, which is another fact I am deeply thankful for.

Sharing the same likes and dislikes with my sister has been enriching for my viewpoint about life and my profession itself. We share ideas, experiences about our students and activities. We even share anecdotes. And I also love the fact that my students enter to my sister's classroom instead of mine. Ahh, that's the magic of having a twin sister...

There are 3 main reasons why I love my job:

Sharing with my students: I have met an incredible number of wonderful people as a teacher. Our classes are more than a grammar lesson: they let me know their life experiences, anecdotes, likes, dislikes and ideas. There are countless engrossing occurrences they have shared in class. Students also teach me a lot with their creativity, and they also remind me of all the things I have to learn in life. By the way, I promise to complete little by little all the homework they have given to me: learning to swim, dance, ride a motorbike, go parachuting and paragliding... and getting married. Oops!
Teaching is learning: A professional will never be able to have total knowledge of their field, and with such a changing field like languages, which is evolving everyday, it is impossible to pretend that even a native speaker gets to know absolutely everything about their own communication code, their own language. Generational trends also have a dramatic incidence. Today, when my students ask me for the meaning of words coming from songs - that was how I knew about the Black Eyed Peas - , video games, current films or any sort of media, I learn more than I could have learned from a textbook. And what can I say when I am preparing my own lessons? If I want to be demanding, I also have to demand myself. I have had to learn how to teach and how to learn.
Learn to be: This is the greatest lesson from being a teacher. There are many things I do not like about my job: sometimes I have to cope with difficult students, or I come across time issues. The typical pile of paperwork and a bunch of online tasks to check are not very encouraging, either. Still, just like any other profession, these challenges help you build your character. Thanks to my job, now I am able to talk turkey and try to be as constructive as possible. I am more concrete and even stronger to provide feedback, and I think of failure and mistakes in a more formative fashion.

There are many more reasons why I enjoy what I do. And as I continue preparing my classes, creating material and exchanging thoughts with my colleagues, I look forward to finding even more reasons to love being an English teacher. My job is captivating and exciting. Languages are second to none. And along with these, I keep on learning more and more in order to become a better English teacher and a better person, just like my colleagues and my students. That is why I cannot see myself doing anything else right now. The day I resolve to do something else in my life, I am positive I will take with me the best of all this experience!

And I expect not to be like this...

Why do you enjoy your occupation?

by MusicElf Wed Jan 25, 2012 10:33 pm

Thank you for expressing how important studetns are fr you, teacher. I think you are a cool teacher because you are respectful and treat as like friends, like we are at the same level, and that makes us feel good!
I like being an engineer because I like designing, creating and improving current designs in software. I confess I am not good at dealing with people, so I would not be a teacher at all, or anything related to people. Computing is my field. Because it is a very innovative field that grows and changes everyday, I like being up-to-date and learn more about languages, programming and networks. I would not work in any other thing. Static

PS - Ha ha ha ha!! You are not like the teacher in the video. Nooooooooooo!!!! ROTF

by PAOLA ANDREA RAMIREZ Thu Jan 26, 2012 4:54 pm

Teacher, I have just known you and I could see that you are an excellent teacher, because you have the sense to share with people and to help them to learn english in a good way. Also, I realy like the way that you speak : your pronunciation and your content. I hope to learn a lot from you and of course to improve my english and develop little by little my skills.

by Anita Sat Jan 28, 2012 9:26 am

Thank you for your compliments, Andrea! Blushing

You made me blush!!
I hope to fulfill your expectations for this new term, Andrea. And I also expect to enjoy this level with you, guys. Yes!

GrumpyElf, You'd never be either a psychologist or a saleswoman, would you? Razz

And I agree I Agree

Programming is fascinating, but it's not for everybody. It deserves a lot of patience and curiosity as well as being very precise and careful. That's why many of us can't be programmers. Ha ha! No!