25 Facts You Probably Didn't Know

About Your Teacher

/ 1 year ago

This is a guest blog post written by Lesley Vos, a private

educator from Chicago and blog writer for Bid4Papers.
October 5 is World Teachers' Day.
I know that because I am a teacher. And I still remember the
time I was a student. With that in mind, I perfectly understand
what a deep gap in understanding exists between teachers and
students: when a student, I considered all teachers the
monsters who longed for a total control over me and gave
hundreds of stupid tasks; when a teacher, I understand how
wrong my fellows and I were.
So, to decrease this gap and try to make students and teachers
understand each other, I am going to reveal some creepy (I'm
kidding!) facts today. They will be for students about teachers.
(As far as you understand, I am at this dark side now.)
Moreover, what can be a better day to reveal teachers' secrets
than their professional holiday?
So, here we go. Check 25 facts you probably didn't know about
your teacher. And quiet, please. The teacher is speaking:
1) Your teacher loves control. I mean, we hate when things
do not go according to our plans. But it doesn't mean we are
freaks who want to control all students like Darth Vader wants
to control the Galaxy. *evil laugh*
2) 33% of teachers leave within the first three years of
beginning their careers. Does it mean teachers are softies?
Well, it's up to you to decide. By the way, 46% of teachers leave
within the first five years. Yeah, the work of a teacher has never
been easy. The most common reason to leave teaching is the
low salary.
3) Your teacher breaks the rules. Don't think that every
teacher considers all those ridiculous rules like no gums and no
cell phones in a classroom important. Unless you use your cell
phone during a lecture or a test, we are totally okay with that.
4) Your teacher is a scapegoat. When students fail, teachers
become the first ones to blame. People often forget there are
many factors that could lead to failure, and some of them are
outside the teacher's control.
5) Your teacher is not necessarily a crazy fan of a
subject. Sometimes we are not excited about what we teach;
every subject has some content we don't enjoy giving our
students.
6) Your teacher is not paid for grading your works and
planning lessons. We may spend 10-15 hours on the weekend
checking your essays though our contracts don't include this
time.
7) Your teacher is one of 7, 000, 000 in the United
States. And over three million educators teach at elementary
and middle school levels.
8) Your teacher struggles with you. We invest so much time
in trying to explain to students how this or that thing or rule
works, and we do love the moment when our students finally
start getting it!
9) Your teacher's job is stressful! According to researchers,
your teacher has a very stressful job that can be compared with
jobs of pilots and firefighters.
10) Your teacher uses social media. You don't say! I don't
want to disappoint some students, but your teachers don't sign
in Facebook or Twitter to watch you; it's important for us to stay
connected, as it helps us grow professionally, using social
media channels as a collaboration tool. Twiter chats, Facebook
groups are a good way to make students participate in
discussions.
11) Your teacher is funny. We love giving some creative and
unusual tasks to our students to make them smile and engage
them to the process of learning. There are many examples of
teachers creativity on the Web, and everyone finds them
awesome, as a rule.
12) Your teacher has feelings. Your teacher is sad to see a
talented student with a tremendous potential who doesn't want
to work on maximizing it.
13) Your teacher spends money on you. Yes, sometimes we
buy things we need to run a classroom; but it is okay, and many
teachers don't see anything awful here.
14) Your teacher is not afraid of looking silly
sometimes. We are not serious erudites who don't see
anything except essays, grades, grammar rules, formulas, etc.
To engage students, we can look and behave a bit awkward or
even silly.
15) Your teacher is not in this profession for the money. We
want to make a difference in shaping young people lives.
16) Your teacher is a human. Oh, really? Yes, we have lives
outside of college or school, we have bad days, we make
mistakes, we cry, we worry, we love and hate.
17) Your teachers love when graduates remember
them. When you congratulate us with holidays, for example, or
meet us in the street and thank for our work, we do appreciate
this.
18) Your teacher doesn't have summer holidays. While
students are happy to spend summer months out of schools, we
spend them preparing for the next year. Plus, we devote our
summer time to professional development.
19) Yes, your teacher has favorites. He or she may not say it,
but there are always some students a teacher somehow has a
natural connection with.
20) Your teacher wants you to write essays. It doesn't mean
we want all students to become Hemingway, Shakespeare, or
at least E.L. James; when we see students writing essays that
work, we understand they are good in critical thinking, they can
express their thoughts clearly, they have a point of view and
know how to share it for others to understand.
21) Your teacher understands you can have problems. We
know that our students deal with challenging situations at home
sometimes, and we are ready to help you cope with them.
22) Your teacher worries about you. We realize that some
students don't have the best life, and we worry about them
outside of school hours.
23) Your teacher doesn't know everything. Some students
believe we should know EVERYTHING; otherwise, how can we
teach?! I am a private educator of French language, but does it
mean I should know all words and grammar rules of this
beautiful language, taking into account the fact they are
changing all the time? So, don't blame your teachers if they
don't remember the year when water has been found on Mars,
for example. It's 2015, by they way.
24) Your teacher cheats you. Don't believe when we say you
are a bad student. There are no bad students, there are
students who don't know they are good; and a great teacher will
always help students understand they are individual. To make a
long story short, your teacher loves you.
25) Your teacher wants to quit. Sometimes. But how can he
or she leave you? Oh, dear… So, we continue working, making
a difference in your life and making you a better person.
Today is perfect for telling your teacher how much you
appreciate his or her work. No matter whether you are a
student, a recent graduate, an alumni, or an intern, thank your
teachers for what they've done for you. Believe me, they do
appreciate this.