Becoming a Truly Professional Teacher
In general, it is not a very easy task, you have to love your career in order to become a teacher these days, many barriers and these are difficult times, and more so when education these days can be very expensive. Wanting to be a teacher is a beautiful profession for those who love to get there and it can be a difficult experience since we learn a lot from others and more from those who want to learn.
There is something so satisfying about working with a true professional in any line of work. When you have a professional on the job in any area of specialization watching that person in action is like watching a work of art. They exude the knowledge, the skill, the devotion to doing a top-notch job, and the confidence that they are the professional who can do the job that is miss ing in a lesser talent.
That is the level we all want to reach in the field of teaching if that is your calling. Not only do you want to be a true professional in your area of specialization which is teaching, but you also want your students to notice your professionalism and recognize that it makes a big difference having a professional running the class rather a lesser talent.
When a professional is on the case, everybody relaxes because they know the job will be done right. In the movie, Pulp Fiction, when the gangsters needed help because of killing, they called in Mr. Wolf. And Mr. Wolf was well known for being the man that always knows what to do, who moves fast but is as courteous as he is efficient and who knows how to get the job done right. When Mr. Wolf was on the scene, the problem was as good as solved. And even though that movie was a bit grisly and profane, Mr. Wolf is a great example of true professionalism at work.
So how do you show your professionalism as you go about your craft of teaching? For one thing, you dress the part. Take pride in your wardrobe and present to yourself to your class each day in a garment that says, I came ready to teach so you should come ready to learn. That is what happens when a professional is on the premises. Everybody wants to get on board with the program.
A professional always knows what to do both long-range and right now. That means you come prepared. Your lesson plans are in order, your room is prepared and your paperwork is organized so at no time do you have to pause and get yourself together when you are into the process of teaching your students. This will take some time for you to get to that level of organization when you walk in the door of your classroom the next day. But putting in that hour or two each night so you are that organized not only makes you a better teacher, it lets the students know that this is a professional operation so be ready.
Students, particularly youth and children can tell the difference between someone who knows what they are doing and someone who is floundering. As the saying goes, they can smell fear. It gives young people confidence and a sense of security that you are organized and not only know what you are going to do each moment of the teaching day, you know what they are going to do as well. That is professionalism and it will make a world of difference in how your teaching goes.
A professional teacher also responds to interruptions and even disturbances calmly because you have seen it before and you know what to do. Of course, developing history in teaching to where you really do know what to do in each circumstance takes time. But if you are completely prepared in every other respect, interruptions won’t throw you because you can address them and be right back to your lesson smoothly and calmly.
A byproduct of being consummately prepared and so well versed in what your lesson plans say and what you are teaching is that it gives you calm confidence that frees you up to be relaxed and even humorous with your students. When your students see you smile because everything is going exactly the way you want it to go, they will respond and open up to you because they sense your confidence and they want to see where you are going to take them. And because you are relaxed and at ease, your students are at ease as well and they can ask you questions and interact with you as you teach. And that kind of interactive dialog is what makes the difference in the lives of students and makes you a truly professional teacher.
Something new: There are many reasons why we want to teach others what we know or what is the reason of the inspiration to want to share ourselves with teachers and learn to be able to pass what we learned to others who want to learn, it is a nice reason that motivates me to teach to others since teaching we also learn from others.
Good Reasons to Teach
The teaching profession is a unique career field in a lot of ways. Because you are taking on the challenge of educating children or teenagers, along the way you will become very much a part of their society with all the positive and negatives that go with that. It’s for that reason that before you make even the first step toward making teaching your career, its good to examine your motivations to make sure you have good reasons to teach.
The downsides of teaching are well known. Teaching historically does not pay well, particularly if you teach at the public school level. You can find niche situations that pay well like working for a wealthy private school, tutoring, or working for a “for-profit” teaching operation. But by and large, you don’t go into teaching for the money.
That said it is also true that if you are a good teacher and your resume is strong, you can expect strong job security. There is always a need for good teachers. Unlike going into business, you do not have to make your employer profitable to be successful teaching. You are judged in lives and in the results of your teaching that is evidenced in the grades and strong academics of your students. If you can learn to teach young minds and bring them wisdom and knowledge, you will have a job for life.
Many people go into teaching because they love the academic environment. For those who grieved the closing of each school year and who never wanted to leave high school and then college, teaching lets you take up residence in that part of society that fits your personality so well. To those who have no idea how the calling to teach works, this seems insane because for many getting out of school a stronger motivation than continuing on in the academic world. So if you have an affinity for the social setting of a school system and the idea of taking up residence in a culture that the pursuit of knowledge is, at least in theory, the primary goal of the institution, teaching is for you.
Another motivation many have for going into teaching is the love of your subject matter. If you have always been passionate about math, history, philosophy, art, or physical education, one way to feel the fulfillment of your passion is to pass along not only your knowledge about your field of expertise but your passion as well. This is particularly true of a field of study where there is no direct corollary in the business world such as history or philosophy. By making a career in academics teaching the field of knowledge you love and excel at, you keep the legitimacy of that area of knowledge alive by passing it along to the next generation.
If the core reason you love to teach is the love of your subject matter, you do have to be a realist especially if you find yourself teaching in public schools. Don’t go into a classroom of 30 high schoolers and expect every one of them to become a zealot about your field of expertise as you are. Yes, from time to time you will light a fire under a kindred spirit and see the light come on about the love of your subject area. That experience alone can make the sacrifices of teaching worth it. But be reconciled that if all you do is at least hold the attention of the students and broaden their knowledge and appreciation of your field of knowledge, for many that are all you can expect. But you are still an educator and you have done a good thing at even that very basic level.
Teaching is a calling no matter what your core reasons to teach is. A true teacher does not go into the field for the money or for a glamorous or exciting career. The excitement of teaching is seeing young minds come alive in class and to take youth people one step further along their path to becoming truly educated individuals. And if that is your passion and what gets you out of bed each mooring to go to that school and deal with the negatives of a teaching day, they you have found the right reasons to teach which means you will be successful, well-liked and remembered by your students as a great teacher.
Metaphor: Hope is in being able to learn well to teach others. because we never stop giving up. Life is a career that we all have to go through and learn from it.
