Why I Teach

I am coming to the end of my 23rd year as a public school teacher. 22 of those years have been in the same school district. I've had my highs and my lows during that time. I even considered resigning at one point about 10 years ago, because it felt like I had no reserves left. My well was dry.

Yesterday I had one of those experiences that teachers live for, the kind that you usually only get when you've been teaching for a while. I responded to a friend request on Facebook -- a high school teacher in my district. And in looking at her profile page I saw a comment from a former first grade student of mine whom I had lost track of over the years. I wrote a "Hello, do you remember me?" comment and received the sweetest message in return, telling me how influential I had been to her. In fact, she is just finishing up her first year as a 5th grade teacher!

I go along day in and day out, year in and year out. Some days I am joyful, other days I am grumpy. But I absolutely must never stop remembering that what I do -- sometimes the smallest, most commonplace, and seemingly insignificant thing I do -- can make a difference to a kid.

That is why I teach.