10 Things You Never Knew About Your Teacher

Being a teacher most definitely has its ups and downs. It's tough, yet rewarding at the same time. Like many other professions, it's hard to understand until you're actually in it. As an experienced teacher, (yes, I can officially say that!) I've encountered a lot of emotions throughout the years. In those eight years of teaching, I've taught in five different schools, planned and taught too many different courses to count, completed my Master of Education degree, got married, had a baby...by the end of the day, this gal is wiped! I came up with this blog idea a long, long time ago, but like many things, I had so many things on the go that I never got a chance to officially get all of my thoughts down. Phew! It's done.

Here are a few things that I bet you never knew about teachers:

• We are workaholics: Our work day does not end when the clock strikes 3:30 p.m. Teachers continually log hours at home, in the evenings, during both the week and on the weekends. The next school days' plans are always on our minds. We work day and night at planning, designing, creating and ultimately reflecting. Our work never ends!

• We have feelings: Teachers are caring by nature. We become attached to our students. We are happy for them when they share good news and we are sad for them when they share bad news. We worry about them when they are absent. We are concerned about them when they are sick. We truly care about them like they are our own. 

• We lose sleep: Whether it's a problem that arose in class that day, a negative interactive with a colleague or parent, a lesson that didn't go as planned, a poor observation, or students in general, we have a tendency to replay these events at night, while trying to sleep. I lost the most sleep at night during the first few years of my career (teachers, I bet you can relate!) I came up with the best ideas....unfortunately, at 3:23 a.m.

• We need to have a sense of humor: Classrooms are like a stage and we have to preform to an audience, every day. If we got hung up on every mistake or every blunder that were to occur, we would go insane. For this reason, teachers have to maintain a sense of humor. Laughing at ourselves is the best way to move on and try again. 

• We have thought about quitting: Many teachers, in the first few years or even later, have thought about quitting their job. We have wanted to walk out that door and never return again. However, we love our job, we love our students and we don't want to give up on them. 

• We break rules, sometimes: No food in the classroom? No cell phones allowed? Yeah, sometimes teacher break their own rules. It happens. These Classroom Meme Posters are a must for my classroom this year!

(I wish I was kidding!)

• We are stressed: Teaching is a very stressful job. This may be hard to understand if you've never been in our shoes. We have demands from our administrators, students and students' parents. We have standardized testing that heavily reflects on our teaching abilities. We have professional development and evaluations that we have to worry about each year. It's more nerve-wracking than anyone can believe. If you're having one of "those days" (basically any job that has human interaction) you may enjoy some of the things that I have been pinning to my Words of Wisdom/Funny Stuff board.

• We don't always LOVE our content: Many teachers do not feel warm and fuzzy about everything that we teach. But we understand that if we show that we are not interested, then we cannot expect our students to be interested. 

• We are not in it for the money: Some school districts pay very well (enough to not have to live paycheck by paycheck that is), while others do not. So, while we are all doing the same job, some of us are being compensated more than others. It's those teachers in particular, the ones that are not making the money that they warrant,  truly deserve the award for loving their job. If they did not love it, they would NOT be there.
  
• We are more than just teachers: Teachers have a variety of roles and wear many hats on a daily basis.We are role models. We are counselors. We are leaders, just to name a few. We are whatever that situation insists we be, on that particular day.

Regardless of your teaching experience, I can bet you can related to at least a few, if not all, of the above. Those who are not teachers, I hope this shed some light on your previous teachers or those you may know who are currently in the profession. Even the slightest kindhearted gesture can light up a teachers day, no matter how rough it may have been! Try it, you'll be remembered for it! :)

Teachers, what else can you add to this list?