Why I Teach

I don't know about you, but I get asked why I became a teacher quite often. It's not a bad question, but I don't have a ready answer. I can't remember a time when I didn't want to be a teacher. (Although I had a brief period during which I was determined to be private detective thanks to my fascination with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. That went away not because of the danger but because I eventually realized how much of a private detective's time is spent in terribly boring ways. Teaching is far from boring.)

Today, I found my answer. Diana Laufenberg, an idol of mine in education, wrote about the past year she has spent out of the classroom. I've been lucky enough to see Diana a few times in period so I had some sense of her thoughts before reading this post. Then I was smacked upside the head.

But, I will also share that nothing is as good as teaching kids.  Teaching is like a puzzle that just keeps needing solving, everyday.  It made my brain spin, inspired hope and anger and frustration and joy and heart break at times. 

That's it. That's why I am a teacher. Thank you, Diana, for saying it so well.

Teaching is a puzzle. And a puzzle that is so worth working hard to solve. Every time a piece fits in it is astounding. So often we try a piece, it looks so close, but it doesn't work. But it still gets us closer. It's never finished but that's just fine. We're lucky enough to get up tomorrow and keep trying to solve that puzzle. What an amazing thing to get to do.