Teachers: why do you love your job?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Reading this thread, I was struck how both ITR champion and Rubystreak answered that they loved their teaching jobs, in spite of low pay. My partner is seriously considering quitting her high-paying corporate job to get her teaching certificate and become a high school English teacher. It would be a big trade off for us, between the financial and the I-just-want-to-love-what-I-do aspects.

So… tell me. What is it that makes you love your job? Feel free to mention stuff that bugs you – but it would help us out a lot to get a better sense of whether it might be a rewarding change.

2

I’m sure I’m no help, I’m a first year high school math teacher. I love every minute of it. I jump out of my bed at 4am every school day.

I’m 53 years old. Been an engineer, architect, software executive, and a few others. Now I’m a teacher, and I’ve never been happier. Money and satisfaction are not well connected.

3

For me, just being able to talk about my subject of passion to an audience who’ll listen (out of interest or just to pass the exam) is a big enough thrill to make it worthwhile. Not only that, but every time I go through the material, I always learn something new about it. Ironically, teaching a subject is one of the greatest ways to learn it.

4

I really like kids, and I love literature. I get to be the first person who exposes 7th graders to Shakespeare. That’s a huge responsibility and it’s so much fun. I feel that I’m doing meaningful work and that my students are really learning about the language, and about how to think and express themselves.

The pay isn’t THAT low, the benefits are good, you can’t beat the hours and the time off (though you do have to work at home). The worst thing about the job is the bureaucracy, the underfunding, and sometimes the sad situation of some of the kids you encounter. Overall, it’s a great job.

Actually, the most disheartening part of the whole thing for me was the unpaid internship, and then the process of finding a job. If your partner can get through that bit I’m sure she’ll like the rest of it, if you can afford to take the cut in pay. Right now there just aren’t that many jobs, and many districts are laying off teachers. Think carefully before changing careers right now…

5

There are plenty of teachers who adore their job, and they’re usually the best ones. One thing that sticks in my mind is my 11th-grade English teacher telling us she had no idea how much money she made; they direct-deposited it and she forgot about it. She came to work because she loved her vocation. Sure enough she was one of the best teachers I ever had, although she was a complete hard-ass, and she helped me out personally during some difficult times (she was the first person I came out to).

6

Hmm… good point. However, it will be a couple of years before she’ll be ready to apply for jobs. Maybe the economy will turn around by then. (Wishful thinking!) In the meantime, we have the ability to downsize our life and live off of my salary for a while.

In any case, I just want her to find something that she enjoys and doesn’t suck the life out of her. We value that quality of life, and our time, more than the money these days. Ironic, that, since we just had a kid (16mo old now) and they’re expensive! But our priorities have shifted.

7

No kidding. Both of us have done several different things over our lives. We joke that we’re still trying to figure out what we want to be when we grow up!

I did the impoverished student gig for far too many years (B.Sc. Biology, M.A. and Ph.D. Musicology) but veered into the corporate world for a bit to make a little money. My partner did the opposite. She jumped right into the corporate world after college, and now would love to ditch that for something more fulfilling. I’m cool with that.

8

It’s a good question. I teach 7th Grade English and here is what I love about it and what I don’t like.

My average kids is 12/13 years old, just so you know.

Love:

90% of the kids: Kids are fantastic, really. They are idealistic(without being idiots), funny, innocent in many ways, and eager to learn. I really think I’d enjoy being the Dad of about 90% of the kids I teach…and I get to be a bit of a Dad/Uncle for 1 year for each of them. It’s cool.

I’m my own boss : Now, this is not technically true. I have several bosses, but when I’m in my class with my kids(95% of the job, really), I’m in charge. I get to bring my own flavor to my class, choose some of the content, and be my own boss.

I help the world : This is cheesy, but it’s true in my own way. I know many people who feel their job is useless. I’m not sure if they are right, but I know my job is not totally useless. Even if every single kid forgets every single English thing I teach, some of them will remember positive life lessons from me. It’s really worth it.

It’s fun and it keeps me young : I’m only 30, but when I’m 50, I’ll still be here with the kids. I feel younger when I talk to kids about their movies, video games, and other stuff.

Hate/Dislike:

Many Parents : I hate to say it, but the kids are better than the parents. Old news, I guess, but it is just sad. There is a large contingent of people that believe teachers are greedy, liberal, lazy, pigs who want to destroy society. To be fair, I’m sure that represents about 5% of teachers, but most of us just like kids and like teaching. In addition, it’s depressing how many parents teach extremely poor morals to their kids. I’m not a Puritan or a prude, but some parents exhibit extremely poor behavior in front of their children and teach dishonesty and immorality. I know that sounds prudish, but you might be surprised just how far gone some parents are…and how it affects the kids.

Some Kids : Hey, some kids/people are just jerks. It’s not that many, really, but it can be annoying. I blame the Parents about 90% of the time, but sometimes kids are just morons…like some adults.

State Testing : It’s ridiculously difficult to pass state tests now(Michigan, by the way). I passed 90% of my kids last year, but it’s getting worse. Not much I can do about it.

Underappreciated : I think everyone feels this way, sometimes, in any job. Still, it’s annoying.

9

I have been retired for over 9 years now, but my wife says that I enter lecture mode at the drop of a hat (and there is a real change in my voice quality). I loved my subject (math) and enjoyed teaching it. I hated marking, though. One course I taught several times, history of math, used term papers instead of exams and they were a joy to read by comparison. What is hard about grading math is that you have to follow the work and if the answer was wrong (most of the time) you had to figure out where the student ran off the rails. Did he basically understand, that was the question.

I enjoyed it so much that about five years ago, I taught a course gratis. It was an advanced graduate course and the book was one that I had recently written. There were only two registered students and a handful of unregistered ones.

10

Thank you for posting this. I am currently in my program for a masters in education, and I plan to teach high school for at least a year or two. I’m glad to meet someone else who’s been looking for a perfect fit, because he or she didn’t just go on autopilot after college and stay in one field for however many years. Your post made my night.

I’m not a teacher yet, but I’m pretty sure the reasons I have for wanting to teach now will be the reasons for wanting to teach in five years. First, because I want to work directly with people. No cubicle jobs for me, thank you very much. Secondly, because teaching and foreign languages are the only two things I like and do well. Pretty much everything else in life I either suck at or have absolutely no interest in.

11

No, it doesn’t. I’m not a teacher, but there are several in my immediate family, and they all express something similar.

12

Ha! My dad has the same voice. Economics professor, now retired. :slight_smile:

13

I teach AP Language and Composition (the non-fiction/argumentation/rhetorical analysis AP English) to juniors, AP Macroeconomics to seniors, and coach Academic Decathlon, an academic competition team.

Why do I teach?

There are a lot of selfless reasons–doing good in the world, opening up the world of knowledge to a child, being there to help kids in need. All those are good and real reasons to teach. But there are plenty of selfish reasons, as well:

[ul]
[li]There’s a lot of latitude in “professional appearance”. This actually makes a big difference if you are coming from a corporate world–I work with a former lawyer, and she says that not having to have a full set of fairly new power suits (and a late model car and eating lunch at fancy places) made the pay differential much less than she thought. [/li]
[li]You can be faintly condescending almost all the time. That’s the normal tone of a teacher. It’s made a virtue of my single most annoying personality trait.[/li]
[li]Your kids think you are god. Seriously. They think I could write the Great American Novel and run the Fed if I set my mind to it. [/li]
[li]You can be the funniest person in the Universe because you only really have to have one year’s worth of jokes, and you you can start over again when that bunch moves up. Plus, tell the same joke 6 times a day and you really get the timing down. Also, kids think anything is funny.[/li]
[li]You get to buy new school supplies every year. Beautiful, beautiful school supplies.[/li]
[li]The occasional serious perk. I had a former student’s dad put in a new air conditioner at cost.[/li]
[li]Summer summer summer summer summer. I can’t emphasize this enough. Yes, I work in the summer. But when I want to for the improvement of my career and because I want to figure something interesting out, not because I have to (unless I’m being paid extra.[/li]
[li]You automatically belong to a community. This is a huge deal to me–I like communities–groups of people tied together not by personal friendship (though those do develop) but through common cause. I’m not a believer, so church doesn’t work, but school is a great substitute: I can go to concerts and games and plays and garage sales and I always have a place, an identity, a role. I like watching the elementary school kids on the homecoming float and knowing I’ve taught their siblings and I will in all likelihood teach them in the fullness of time.[/li][/ul]

I’ll certainly think of other things later. And I am happy to explain what I don’t like about the job if you are interested.

14

I forgot the best ones!
[ul]
[li]You get to be scary. Understand, I’m one of the cool teachers. Kids hang out in my room and write funny notes on my board. Kids call me by a nickname and paint “We love you” on my car. But everyone once in a while, less than once a year, something happens and I get a full head of steam on and I get to put the fear of god into someone–usually for disappointing me in some way. It’s something you have to be careful about–I don’t go ripping into sensitive kids–but there is a time and a place for righteous fury, and it’s pretty damn satisfying.[/li]
[li]You get the credit. Sure, my kids probably have some other influences, parents, other teachers, religious leaders. I am sure they played some small part. But when one of my kids gets a perfect score on the SAT or is the 92nd pick in the MLB draft or (in the fullness of time) becomes president, cures cancer, or wins the lottery, in my heart, I know that’s all me.[/li][/ul]

15

I’m a white suburbanite whose own high school near Detroit had 1400 students, and less than 50 were not white.

I went to college at an 88% white university in Kalamazoo, MI.

I teach at a public charter high school in south Phoenix, AZ. Our population is 65% Hispanic, 34% Black, and <1% Other. Every day, I learn something about cultures I was never exposed to. I can’t think of another job that would let me be this close to other cultures.

My subject matter doesn’t matter to me. I teach a section of Reading Intervention (phonics) to kids who never learned to decode text in English, plus I teach 11th grade English (half of which is career and college research and preparation - stuff that probably belongs in a life skills class) and just started an Advanced English class for upperclassmen. Of our 650 students, 25 qualified; before I started that class (last month), NO teacher taught any sort of college-prep level English class in the six year history of the school I work at. I could just as easily teach government or history or just about anything, though.

At the end of my second year, I now have the trust of my administrators to do a ton of extra stuff and new stuff for our school. I took 3 field trips this year to Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, which is a 3 hour charter bus ride. I charged my kids $40 to go to pay for the nice bus and to make sure I had kids who really, really wanted to go with me and were willing to make a sacrifice for it. All of them will be first-generation college students if they go; the looks on their faces were amazing. The comment that stood out to me the most was, “Where is all of the tagging (graffiti)? This looks really nice!” I had to explain to that student that people who pay tens of thousands of dollars to be somewhere tend to not scribble their names on every sign in sight!

In all, I love the profession. I think I should be paid more, but I also think there should be a longer school year. I also think I should be paid for being an awesome teacher instead of being rewarded by being promoted to administration. Look, I’m great at my job, and I think the best place for me is in the classroom, but with my own kid on the way, I’ll have to eventually take the money and go to admin.

16

I’ve been seeing a 3rd grade teacher for a while now (hey the fantasy FINALLY came true), loves her job, loves most of the kids, likes most of the people she works with, volunteers for after school and weekend activities, committees and all the extra stuff that might make a difference but she doesn’t get paid for.

She hates pretty much all of the above. Parents can be miserable, “little johnny is just perfect, its your fault”, even though the kid had the same problems in with the 1st and 2nd grade teachers, and most of the problem is the parent.

Some kids are just plain evil, very few, but they can make EVERYTHING miserable.

The testing is just stupid, it started today, she’s stressed. The proctoring rules are beyond asinine and really make little sense. The questions are poorly worded and not consistent with the curriculum. They can’t actually teach anything during the two weeks of testing as to not give an unfair advantage, and cheat the kids out of two weeks of learning. The way the tests are weighed and the pass/fail thing just penalizes the schools that need it the most.

The worst is the administration. As she says “I’m good at my job, make sure I’m doing my job, but at least LET me do my job”. This goes back to some of the testing crap, then the discipline that they aren’t allowed to dish out, then back to the parents. Add in all the political backstabbing that goes on, and some days to her it doesn’t seem worth it, its not the teaching kids that she doesn’t like, its all the extra BS that goes with it.

17

Thanks, all for your input! We feel encouraged.

One question: how much time do you spend grading papers and lesson planning? This would be for high school level classes.

Thanks!

18

English teachers are some of my best memories as a student. There is a certain enthusiasm that shines through and was contagious. Maybe I just got lucky.

Question: Now that states are taking the money to support education, won’t the job situation improve a lot – and soon?

19

Depends. In LA, not so much. I suspect this is the case in many places. The problem is that the federal money to support education is not enough to cover all districts’ budget shortfalls. There will be attempts to make up the difference somehow other than laying off teachers, but not all districts will succeed. The basic problem is that so much of school districts’ money is directly tied to state tax revenues, which, it turns out, vary quite a lot more than politicians (and school boards) tend to expect.

20

BTW, I’m very interested in this thread; my industry, educational publishing, is laying off people like crazy and slashing budgets to ridiculous, unsustainable fractions. I know I love teaching, especially writing and other language arts stuff, and I’m very tempted to switch. I wouldn’t even have to take a cut in pay.

What I’m most afraid of is noise, really. I get migraines – I have most of my triggers under control (allergens, hydration, blood sugar) but a big remaining one is chaotic noise. How loud are high-school kids in class these days? Most of my teaching experience has been with highly-motivated students, not in public school classrooms.