Why did you become a teacher?

As I sit down to finally start to take my thoughts out of my head and put them out into the world, this is the first question that comes to mind. Before I can answer that, I need to give you an idea of what this blog is going to be about. Anyone who knows me, knows that I can ramble on and on about different topics and that I try to see both sides of every story. I will never be a person to say that I know it all and that everything I feel is right. In the end, what I say is what I think and feel based on what I know or think I know.

My goal with this blog is just to answer questions. I'm not sure how often I will post and I'm definitely not sure if anyone will find any of this interesting. If it happens that you like something, AWESOME! If not, sorry for wasting your time.

Now, where was I? That's right....."Why did you become a teacher?"

This seems like such a simple question and I've been asked it hundreds of times. Here's the thing, I don't know exactly why. There are some reasons that have factored into my decision and there are others that have revealed themselves over time. The truth is, I don't know the perfect answer to the question. It might sound like a cop-out, but I'm fairly confident that most teachers would come to that same conclusion.

When someone asks this question, they usually expect the answer to be one of these choices:

A. For the summers and holidays off.
B. For the pay and benefits.

Honestly, those aspects of teaching were not the major factors when I chose this career path. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade the extra time with my wife and daughter for the world but that's not why I teach. It's great to get guaranteed time off, but what most people forget is that having the time off when we do limits our choices for trips and other activities. While I do get time off for Christmas/New Year's, for Spring Break and the summer, but guess what? EVERYONE else does too. Traveling during that time is a pain. I would rather take a trip in February or October but I can't do that. As far as pay and benefits go, I won't go as far as some teachers and complain about my salary compared to other jobs and school districts. Could it be better? Sure, it can always be better. Is that why I work where I do? No.

When someone asks me why I'm a teacher, the first answers that come to mind fall into these choices:

A. It was a calling.
B. To make a difference in the lives of children.
C. To make the world a better place.

Each of those options have some truth and some cliche. For as long as I can remember, family members have told me that I would be a great teacher. Math has always been one of my favorite subjects and I like to explain how to do things so it made sense to pursue it. There is also something unexplainable about showing a student how to do something and being there for that "a-ha" moment. I still think about some of my previous students and what they were able to accomplish in my class. As for C, that is my little utopian pipe dream. Until high-stakes testing goes away (a post for another day) and the demoralizing of the teaching profession ends (a post for yet another day), I'm not sure if that can be considered a valid reason.

When someone asks me why I'm a teacher, this is what I tell them:

"I don't really know." There are days that I truly love what I do and cannot wait to try and duplicate my success over and over again. Then there are days where I ask myself what I got myself into and wonder how I can keep going. In the end, I teach because it is a part of me and challenges me to be my best everyday. Somedays I get knocked on my behind but I make sure I get right back up and go for it again. When I think about why I teach, the lyrics of the Lady Antebellum song I Was Here usually start to play in my mind:

I wanna do something that matters,
Say something different,
Something that sets the whole world on it's ear.
I wanna do something better,
With the time I've been given,
And I wanna try to touch a few hearts in this life.
Leave nothing less than
Something that says, "I was here."

Oh yeah.....All that and because I get the summers off.