10 Reasons Why I Love Teaching

For lack on anything better to do, here are

10 Reasons Why I Love Teaching

10. Two degrees in English Lit - What else am I supposed to do?

9. I hate office work - With teaching, I always feel like I'm accomplishing something on a day to day basis, not just shuffling papers around pointlessly.

8. Love of the written word - I enjoy sharing that love with others.

7. Variety - It's the ultimate job for the multi-tasker in me. There's at least 16 things that need to get done on any given day, and that doesn't include the teaching.

6. Freedom - This goes with #7 - as long as the requirements are met, there's a lot of room to maneuver and get the job done. Creativity is prized since it can be hard to keep the kids' attention and have them learn at the same time. There's a certain "magician" quality to teaching - you gotta keep the kids (and parents) watching the left hand so they don't notice what the right hand is teaching them.

5. Fellow teachers - Middle school teachers are a bizarre lot, and the longer they stay, the weirder they get - I love that. I am that. There's a certain quality of interdependence and competition woven into the whole mess. And there's also ALWAYS someone you can turn to for help, support, or just venting when it's all just too much.

4. The kids - For the most part, even the pains are neat in their own way. Since I deal with 12-14 year olds (the occasional 15 y.o. thrown in for variety), it's an interesting and exciting time to be dealing with them. At least I think so.

3. Creativity - Not just mine, but the kids are pretty creative when given the opportunity (and often not on purpose). As an English teacher some of the stuff I'm trying to convey is dull and/or confusing - that's when thinking creatively comes in handy. Then again, sometimes you just have to know when it's game time and have a good one at hand.

2. Autonomy - While I do have to answer to administrators and parents, it's up to me - in my classroom - to get the job done as best I can.

1. It's fun. - Some days you just need to know when to call it a day, play some music, and toss a ball around the room. (All in the name of education, of course.)