Colin,
I must respectfully disagree with your opinion that “…being a teacher is one of the easiest jobs. Especially teachers who are in the public school setting” (Russell-Kimball, 2017). I am one of those educators. My job is far from “easy”. Your comments actually reminded me of poet Taylor Mali’s poem entitled What teachers make when Mali emphatically stated “He says the problem with teachers is What’s a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher? He reminds the other dinner guests that it’s true what they say about teachers: Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach” (Mali, 2002). Teaching is a passion and most definitely a calling. I do admit, that sometimes people enter teaching with the wrong motives, however, in my experience those are not typically the teachers that last. I did not enter my teaching because I am a liberal or a conservative, or because I was going to make a great salary. I teach because I love teaching and I want to make a difference in the lives of children. I chose elementary education because early intervention is the key to lifelong learning. The joy that envelopes me when a student smiles and truly comprehends what I have been teaching is priceless.
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The majority of my “time off” is spent planning, preparing, and procuring materials for my lesson plans, preparing for IEP meetings, writing reports, and creating an inviting, dynamic, and engaging classroom for my students. To properly prepare, I must make sure that the materials that I choose are age-appropriate and that the information I present is organized, logical and differentiated for my student. Moreover, I spend my own personal income on materials to ignite their creativity and to further engage them in the learning