I've been looking forward to this post since I first came across this blogging challenge. I'm going to have to provide a little bit of context, though, if I'm to properly say what it is that I love most about teaching. Here we go...
As a high school student, teaching was never something that I ever really wanted to do. I enjoyed school (yes... I was on of those kids) but I was probably more worried about what others expected me to do than what I actually wanted for myself. As a result, I spent my first year of post-secondary focused on the sciences with a tentative plan to get into medicine. Don't get me wrong... it wasn't like I had zero interest in the profession. At that stage in my life, though, I just didn't have the necessary drive to apply myself in the way that was needed. It also didn't help that I had been largely unchallenged through high school. Part of the reason I enjoyed school so much was that, for the most part, it came very easily to me. This led me to seriosuly neglect my so-called study habits. I wasn't really willing to spend more than a few minutes studying mainly because I'd never needed to before.
After limping through my first year, I went on a mission for my church to San Francisco, where I would spend the next two years of my life sharing a very different message. While I won't elaborate on the details of this period of my life in this space, suffice it to say that I really grew to love the people around me. Being able to get through every single day, often filled with a lot of negative responses, taught me a great deal of patience and empathy. Perhaps most importantly, I truly grew to relish those times when I could connect with people on a personal level and be a part of their learning. This shared experience of teaching and inviting became a major motivator for me. It drove me to build a rapport with those around me so that I could have more of that teaching rush.
Kate and I visiting San Francisco in 2008... five years after I left.
I remember discussing teaching as a career while I was in California. Most people said I shouldn't worry about it because it was too difficult to earn a living. The more sensible side in me tended to agree and I gave up on the idea. Shortly after coming home, I moved up to Edmonton where I began my studies in Political Science and Sociology thinking that law was going to be my path. Two years in, I wasn't happy, and the ceaseless comments from friends and family were starting to get to me (Heh... political science, eh? Good luck with that one...) I had a young family at that point and I was really worried about being able to provide for them. It was at this point, that I started to remember just how much I loved teaching. Not only would it be a stable career, but I knew that I would love it.
So. Three years of post-secondary down and I changed paths once more into Secondary Education with a major in Social Studies and a minor in German. I can honestly say that I felt much more at home from the moment I saw that letter confirming my transfer: I knew that this is where I needed to be.
In the three years I spent in Education at the U of A, and more importantly in the years I have spent as a teacher, I have been motivated by a desire to share in the learning of my students. What I love most about teaching are those moments when I am approached by a student who isn't just looking for an answer to the question. They have a true desire to learn for themselves. Maybe they're trying to figure out that essay, or perhaps they just don't understand what they've read. In any circumstance like this, I have tried my best to help them figure things out in their own way and the feeling of relief and excitement when they finally understand literally makes my day.
To be clear, this isn't a Wow-I'm-an-Amazing-Teacher self congratulatory thing. This is pure empathy. I have watched many students struggle, and some have shown up in my classroom in tears because they just didn't get it. I can go through a day feeling like I haven't been very successful and one meeting... one experience like this makes it all worthwhile. I can think of few things in my own life which have been able to help me feel that way.
Teaching is LITERALLY... the best job in the world!
~Mr.T
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