Fear and Loathing in 217

Wow, I knew the power of words, but I never realized that I would scare someone so badly. One of my newest readers, Mr. Admin Worm, read my little rant from yesterday, and it apparently scared him out of teaching...maybe.
If you haven't read my rage-induced post, scroll on down to July 11 (or the next post). I admit it: I was very angry when I wrote that post. However, I want to make this very clear to anyone that reads ole I.T. here: I love teaching. I love it. I love the challenge of making the students understand something that before they either didn't know or didn't get. However, teaching is a great deal of work. Most people get the idea that teaching consists of handing out tests, correcting those tests, and just stepping up in front of a class and talking. You could do that, sure, but you might not really be a good teacher then. The key to being an educator is not really in the practice, but in the preparation of the lessons, quizzes, and etc. That's right: the awesome power of the teacher comes in how well you can organize and stay ahead of your students. Does personality help? Sure. I sometimes think that the students who "liked" me (and I use quotes because the key to being a teacher is to be likeable, not liked) is that I was able to talk to them. I was organized and made sure I understood what they were talking to me about at the time.
You must also have infinite patience. Why? Half of the lessons you prepare won't go the way you envisioned. Students will ignore you, or go faster or slower than you thought they could. It's about rolling with the punches.
Every day of teaching is completely different. Any teacher will agree with me. There is absolutely no way that the class you teach on Monday will act exactly the same the next day. How do I know? Well, take the kids I was ranting about yesterday. Today, they were much better. They worked on the stories, and they were respectful in talking to my E.A.
The other key to teaching is that you can't ever give up. There will be days where you just feel like nothing you say is getting through and that every single one of the kids you work with is destined to use the phrase: "Do you want fries with that?" However, they just might surprise you.
So if you're thinking about becoming a teacher, think about the following:
1. It's more than a job, it's a lifestyle. Most teachers live, breathe, eat, crap, etc. their jobs. You will take work home, so be prepared. The best teachers still have to take the occasional paper home to read. You'll find yourself working the occasional weekend to catch up. Does it suck? Yeah, but the reward is worth it.
2. Not all students are created equal. For every student you get that wants to learn, there may be 1 or 2 or even 5 that just don't care. You can and should do everything you can to get them into it, but they just may not care. One student I had (we'll call her Emma) liked to say that she didn't care, but she did the work, she was attentive most of the time, and she tried (though she wanted me to believe she didn't). What started out badly ended with her being one of my favorite students. (It also led to her causing me to be made fun of by faculty members even into this summer with people who barely know me. More on that later.) They say you can't judge a book by its cover. That's the best way to think of the students.
3. Preparation, preparation, preparation (and improvisation). You must be organized, prepared, and able to work the crowd. Things will come up, lessons will change. If you can't handle a student sending the room off on a tangent, then teaching will be very hard for you. I worked with a Theatre IB class. We were talking about African Theatre and ended up having to go back and explain what happened to Nelson Mandela, what the colonial history of most of Africa is, and then finally, almost an hour later, tie it back to theatre. If you can't go with the flow, but learn how to steer it at the same time, then teaching is not for you.
4. Be in shape. I laughed when one of my teachers told me that you must be able to run five miles everyday in order to teach. I thought, "Huh? You're standing there most of the time, and you never really move, so why the heck do you need to be in shape. Besides most of the teachers I know are fat." Well, this is why: You may not physcially go five miles over the day, but mentally it will feel like it. You have to watch between 35 to 52 people in a small room. Keep in mind what you want them to get through while also making sure they're attentive. Your mind races to keep everything together. You're also constantly thinking about the future of the class. Where are we going next? Your brain will hurt, but it will heal. That's why we have summer...usually.
And finally,
5. Say goodbye to normal. With all of the different personalities you'll be working with, there will be quirks and eccentricities. It's inevitable. You will see kids or fellow faculty members saying things or looking ways that you can't believe. One fellow student in my program told me all about how his supervising teacher had specific instructions about how to close the room when school was over. If those instructions weren't met, then the student teacher had to clean the entire room. That's what happens sometimes. Students will also have quirks. You just learn to deal with it.
I hope this helps anyone thinking about becoming a teacher. It's just like any other job. You'll have great days were amazing feats take place. You'll also have terrible days where you believe that you've been cursed by fate, or time, or God, or whatever rules your version of the universe. And some days...well...they'll just go by with nothing good or bad happening. See, it's just like any other job. The only difference? If you screw up really badly at this job, then you could be damaging alot of people. This should hopefully clear up any confusions, and if you're reading this, Admin Worm, then hopefully you're not scared anymore of teaching. If you (or anyone, for that matter) think you have what it takes to teach, then by all means: go for it! Working with students like Emma, or Greta, or Charlie, or Julie, or any of the students is totally worth it. They have keen insights to life, and you learn from them as they learn from you.