Damien at the Speed of Life

The photo above is one taken when the Secretary of Education of California, Jack O’Connell, and the Superintendent of San Bernardino County, Herb Fisher, visited my classroom. I put it in because I am proud of it. Maybe it will give me a little “clout” in this post.

I’m an INFP according to the personality test by Meyers-Briggs. Every time I take it it says the same thing about me: “I am most happy in a job where I feel I am making a difference.” This is one of the reason teaching is a fit for me. Of course, I believe I am making a difference. I also believe the people around me are trying to make a difference. The evidence I have shows that we are as a school and that is why I am motivated to go to work every day. But for many people I know, I fear this excitement is lacking. Whether you are becoming a physical education teacher or a math one, you should be passionate about what you do.

If you are looking at teaching in this time of recession and thinking: “Wow, teaching looks secure financially, maybe I’ll go get my credential.” Let me tell you something, the security is certainly there but with a belief in what you are doing, you’ll flop as a teacher. There are teacher training qualifications. All the security in the world will not get you through a year’s assignment of troubled kids. Only vision can guide you through that. All the hefty plans for vacations when you are off twice a year will not navigate you through the State Standards and toward scores that show growth. If you are looking at teaching as a career option because of its financial stability, you might want to rethink things.

At present there are discussions going on all across our great land about how to make cuts in the classroom. The money just isn’t there any more. It is possible classes will go from 30:1 to 40 or even 50:1. The resolve of teachers now in the profession will be tested, there is no doubt about that. The people in school now to become teachers should be excited about the career but also realistic that it could be 5-10 years before we ever see hiring like we have seen in the past. The backlog of teachers who are out of work grows every day. These people will be needing jobs when education starts getting its due money again. Don’t let it sway you however if you have a vision to teach.

Therein lay the secret of why to become a teacher and why not to: if you have a vision or not. A visionary teacher will make it through these tough financial times by putting kids first. If you or new or old or medium or whatever, it matters not if you have a vision of imparting knowledge in young people. To those who have that vision, I applaud your decision to teach, check out all your options including teacher training on line. All else, do us all a favor and do something else. What do you think it takes to teach?