While in Phnom Penh, I sometimes felt a bit defensive about my job as a teacher. Teaching is a common job; lots of people do it. And then a profound shift occurred somewhere between a dispassionate argument about how the Cambodian work camps were numbered, and a more heated exchange about the length of the lunch ‘hour’. I came to see teaching as an art and a way of profound human interaction. What follows is my attempt at a photo essay about why I love teaching.
1) Teachers get to think about, talk about, and teach about big ideas with students who challenge us.
She kept me on my toes!
2) Teachers get to travel for free.
In Alabama on a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, 2006
3) We get to have our pictures taken with possible future presidents.
If Barack Obama hadn't already done it, I'm pretty sure Artur Davis, Congressman from Alabama, would be the first Black President
4) We make real human connections with people who we might not have had the chance to meet if they or their children weren’t in our classrooms.
Adaliz and her Mom, spring open house 2009
5) We get to go to the prom every year!
...and our students love to have their pictures taken with us...
6) We don’t have to sit at our desks all day.
Nothing like a walk in the woods with a monk to relieve our cynicism
7) We are able to be there while our kids grow up.
Mia and Emma a few years back; school vacation week
8 ) Our students often become our teachers.
He taught me a thing or two!
9) And sometimes they become our lifelong friends.
Jeff and Vannak: skydiving 2008
10) We have generous amounts of vacation time where we get to refuel and rejuvenate so we can come back into the classroom and express our humanity.
...The End...
