Achieving a sense of fulfillment in education is a priority if an instructor passionately desires to experience longevity in the classroom. The demands of teaching can be overwhelming if a teacher’s motive for educating a classroom of students isn’t delightful. According to studies, a number of new teachers experience burnout in their first few years before leaving the profession for good.
My seventeen years of teaching has been driven by a desire to inspire students to achieve above and beyond their capabilities. Students often come back to me years later to express appreciation for pushing them beyond what they thought possible for themselves. Such experiences bring me great delight and fulfillment, making the difficulties in educating students worthwhile.
Rebellion
To gain a sense of fulfillment I first had to commit to making a difference in the lives of children regardless of the stress that came with it. Have you ever been in classrooms where your students rebelled against everything your attempted to teach? I have multiple times.
Some even played practical jokes, such as putting glue in my seat and erasing the daily assignments, turning off the lights and throwing books at me when my back was turned. Many days I just wanted to give up and abandoned my students to their own devices. But my commitment to transforming the lives of these students was stronger than their resistance to my teachings.
The Effort to Connect
In order to strengthen my relationships with my students, and to also win the favor of those who were on a mission to destroy me, I often formed a close relationship with their parents or guardians. When you as a teacher reach out to the parents of a troubled student, you express a genuine sincerity and dedication to the progress of that child. Parents will most likely welcome your determination and concern.
Many parent struggle with their children just as the teachers who teach them do. In these days and times, children can be difficult to raise, especially for parent who have to work two jobs just to make ends meet. Such parents just don’t have the time to spend with their children. That is exactly where you come in as a teacher, going beyond the call of duty.
Beyond the Call of Duty
Going beyond the call of duty as a teacher is the agreement between you and the parent to spend quality time with the student(s). Taking time out on your weekends to take the children a fun field trip such as a carnival or a movie is a unique way to bond with a child.
In any given community, there are a number of children who don’t have a father or mother figure to make them feel special. By stepping into this role, you fulfill something within the child that will last forever. Such sacrifices of time will win the honor and affection of students who may not otherwise succeed in academics.
Steadfast Belief in a Student’s Capacity to Enjoy Learning
Any teacher who desires to highly influence the life of a child must believe without reservation that that child can be transformed by love and knowledge. Otherwise all efforts to educate it may fail. The push for high achievement in academics must be accompanied by genuine love and care. This is why going beyond the call of duty is a powerful source academic persuasive when it comes to getting difficult students on your side.
The ability to administer a high degree of inspiration to you students is also a must if you desire to make it through the week in any high risk the classroom. As a teacher, the best way to keep students motivated is to promote some form of reward system that makes the students excited about academic achievement.
Attending teacher training and classroom management seminars is a great way to discover various rewards systems that have worked wonders for other teachers. Also, read the biography of teachers who have been nationally awarded for their high performance in the classroom. Often you will find that the outstanding strategies of a super teacher’s repertoire have originated from an in-depth study of the strategies used by their peers.
Importance of Administrative Collaboration
By all means, collaborate with other teachers and the administration as much as possible. By brainstorming as well as discovering and experimenting with new teaching strategies, a school can increases the overall unity and knowledge of the entire teaching staff.
The goal of education is to transform the lives of students, preparing them for a life of service and leadership in the community. Accomplishing this takes more than the effort of one teacher, but a family of teachers who will not accept failure.
The demands of the teaching profession will only grow in the coming years. The field of education needs teachers whose major fulfillment in life is seeing the success and progress of the next generation. Sustaining the greatness of America begins with teachers like you and me.