Proud to be a teacher

English: teacher and its importance (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“In a completely rational society, the best of us would aspire to be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and the highest responsibility anyone could have.” :Lee Iacocca

See, Iacocca agreed that teaching is noble.

Let’s look at people who know the importance of what we do and not the sensational media that makes its money by stirring up controversy, sharing gossip, and elevating the basest things as if they are truth so that they get the eyes, clicks, and traffic to pay their salaries with advertising. The media has no incentive to talk about great things because people don’t stop and stare in wonder at those things. The problem with our society is that people would rather be shocked than awed.

Yet, I will live to be the kind of teacher who encourages a student to stop and stare in wonder in five or ten years after they realize the importance of what they learned in my classroom. The awe of a class well taught is a hope diamond amidst the trash that society pretends that teachers are. I am not that kind of teacher. While not perfect, I’m going to be better and be more this year.

“We have lots of heroes today – sportsmen, supermodels, media personalities. They come, they have their 15 minutes of fame, and they go. But the influence of good teachers stays with us. They are the people who really shape our lives.” Jonathan Sacks

You, my friend, are a hero. Let’s let mutual appreciation start with us. If this profession of teaching continues to be trounced in the mud, let it not be because we laid down in the mud so they could do it. I’m proud to be a teacher and be among you. The things happening in many places aren’t great and none of us has the money we wish to do what we want. A deficit in money can be made up in other ways. A deficit in your heart can’t be made up by anyone.

A heart for children is the first ingredient in being a good teacher. You are noble. You are exceptional. You are a member of the greatest profession and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!