Thoughts on teaching - more to come

This week I began my first week teaching at Bay Elementary (CCISD). I am teaching K-5th Resource. Teaching is a job that requires a great deal of effort and is at time very exhausting; however, it is a rewarding career and one that I have believed in and supported for a number of years. Anyone can earn a degree and be trained to complete a certain task, but it takes a special person to be a teacher. Teaching requires so much from an individual and definitely has to be something that comes right from the heart.
Children are the future and having the chance to impact their lives, one way or another, makes teaching that much more extraordinary. To teach is to impart knowledge, character, personality, ability, talents, stability and decision making to children of all ages, sizes, shapes, colors and ability levels. Teaching isn't simply academics, learning how to read and write, but it is about building and shaping lives in an effort to produce productive and successful citizens in the 21st century.
Teaching is more than standing in front of a classroom to give a lecture at the white board. It is about learning the individuals in your class, who they are, how they learn, what they like, etc. It is about helping them develop as people. It is about doing whatever it takes to reach each student to help them internalize the lessons. It is about making sure every child as the same opportunity to learn.
In my personal life I place a high importance on learning both formally and informally. It is my goal to help children find that same passion for learning however it looks in their individual lives.

more thoughts later....