Teaching is a Great Gig

Today, I want to express how much I love my job.  I really do.  I am being 100% sincere about this.  I have always been a reader and a writer, so now, being able to talk and teach all day about literature and how to express yourself through words is a pretty great gig.  I love my students.  Sometimes, it is weird being the only female in the room, but my students are respectful, diligent about their academics, athletics, activities, community service, and all other extra-curricular events.  And, they are really funny.  So, their attitudes and teenage personalities also make teaching a pretty great gig.  Then, there are my colleagues, who really do impress me every single day.  Teachers are a unique group to be around, and the bottom line is every single one of them has their priorities straight and has chosen this job in order to make a difference.  I can tell you that they are all “good people” and being around a group of educators constantly makes me want to up my game and be the best teacher I can be for my students.  And, they are also really funny.  Oh, and yeah, I love having my summers off – like I said, teaching is a pretty great gig.

However, there are things that could make my job even better.  I need more time.  In order to be that best teacher I can be for my students, I need more time.  I either need more time, or less students.  Currently, I have 112 students.  I am always grading essays, and when I am just about finished, another essays rolls in to be graded.  I need time because I want to make effective lessons for my students that will engage them and help them learn certain concepts.  I need to reread all the literature I am teaching so I can be prepared for all the questions my students might have.  I need some parents to back off and let their child figure things out for himself and I need other parents to be more involved in what is going on in their child’s life.   

Teaching really is a pretty great gig.  And if I could have less students or one more free period a day, I think it would be even greater.