I teach because the news is depressing.
Barry Mernin, Hong Kong International School
Effective teachers must model kindness, compassion, organization, intelligence, flexibility, and collaboration.
Ruth Ferree, University of Virginia, Curry School of Education
“As we teach, we experience the joy of learning over and over. Our mirror neurons fire, and our body responds to the successes we observe.”
Neal McDonald, Dearborn Middle School
“I refused to adjust my expectations because of past failures, teacher opinion, socio-economic status, native language, or their own negative internal monologue…they were to take responsibility for their own learning.”
Katherine K. Merseth, Harvard University
“I teach because when I teach I learn…and I LOVE to LEARN.”
Joshua Winrotte, Lincoln Junior High School (IN)
“I teach because I am called. I teach because children matter. I teach because I am good at it. I teach because it pays the bills. I teach because I didn’t like anything else.”
Andrea Finkle, Southwestern Middle School (FL)
“When you are born to something, no amount of measuring can make you into anything else.”
Maggie Thornton, Charlottesville (VA) High School
“There was an earthquake on my first day as a teacher; it was also the first one I had ever experienced. Some might have seen it as a sign that this wasn’t the profession for me.”
Submissions
Why I Teach always welcomes submissions from teachers of all subjects. The submission guidelines can be found here. Questions? Please e-mail us at whyiteach@learningmatters.tv.
About Why I Teach
In Why I Teach, Learning Matters invites classroom teachers to share what brought them to the teaching profession -- and what keeps them there.
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