1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,360 Welcome to the Teachers Need Teachers Podcasts, the podcast for teachers who don't want 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:09,199 to just survive teaching but actually thrive. Are you considering a career in teaching. 3 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:12,480 It's a noble pursuit, but let's face it, deciding to become a 4 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:17,879 teacher can be a minefield of potential mistakes, because making mistakes in this decision 5 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:23,160 process can definitely lead to a lack of fulfillment, definitely burn out and feeling 6 00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:28,120 like you wasted so much time and money to just be stuck in this career 7 00:00:28,199 --> 00:00:32,840 that you hate. So let's dive into these six mistakes that pretty much everyone 8 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,399 makes when deciding to become a teacher. That way, we can ensure that 9 00:00:36,439 --> 00:00:40,920 your decision to become when leads to success both for you and your students. 10 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:45,359 So, the first mistake that people often make when deciding to become a teacher 11 00:00:45,679 --> 00:00:50,560 is being unclear about their motivations for teaching. So this is basically the same 12 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:54,520 thing as your why. And I know it's so cliche to say that, 13 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:57,799 like, what is your why for teaching? But you really need to ask 14 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:00,759 yourself why do you want to get into this? It's honestly one of the 15 00:01:00,759 --> 00:01:06,040 biggest mistakes that people make when deciding to become a teacher because they don't really 16 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:10,920 understand what it entails. They know about teaching based on how they were taught, 17 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:15,319 but they don't necessarily know just how hard it can be. Maybe you 18 00:01:15,359 --> 00:01:19,319 want to become a teacher because you heard that there is a teacher shortage and 19 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:23,560 they're pretty much trying to fast track everyone to become a teacher to fill those 20 00:01:23,599 --> 00:01:27,719 gaps. Maybe you're really attracted to the holidays and breaks that we have, 21 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:32,920 especially summer break. Maybe you have a child who's also in school and you 22 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:36,400 want to have the same time off that they do, which is understandable. 23 00:01:36,439 --> 00:01:40,359 I think of it as the same way that you would ask yourself why do 24 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:44,159 you want to become a police officer or why do you want to become a 25 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:48,599 doctor? If you really need to understand why you want to go through all 26 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:53,519 that you have to do to actually get into that career and everything it entails 27 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,280 once you're there. So, for example, if you're a police officer, 28 00:01:56,319 --> 00:02:00,159 there's definitely a lot of risk involved in terms of putting your life on the 29 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:04,040 line, a lot of reward, and if you want to become a doctor, 30 00:02:04,079 --> 00:02:07,280 well, you're going to be in med school forever and have a huge 31 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:09,879 amount of loans, and is that worth it for you to help save people? 32 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,680 So same thing with teaching. Why do you want to become a teacher? 33 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,000 And when it gets really tough, is that why? Strong enough to 34 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:21,919 stay in? This is especially important when you have people who want to discourage 35 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:24,400 you from becoming a teacher. So sometimes you'll tell people that you want to 36 00:02:24,439 --> 00:02:30,039 become a teacher and they'll be like why, Hey, I get it. 37 00:02:30,159 --> 00:02:32,599 Teaching is really tough. And so if you don't have a solid why, 38 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:38,080 something that's really motivating you to do it other than breaks or hey, I 39 00:02:38,159 --> 00:02:43,120 like being poor something pike that, then you're going to have a hard time 40 00:02:43,159 --> 00:02:46,240 defending that and really feeling confident about your decision. Because I'm going to be 41 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:50,080 honest with you, if you were going to go into teaching, I really 42 00:02:50,199 --> 00:02:53,479 encourage you to want to see it through, no matter how hard it gets. 43 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:58,479 I think a lot of teachers go into this profession with this dream or 44 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:02,240 they see people who are smiling on Instagram or TikTok and they're like, Hey, 45 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:06,159 I could totally do that, and then once they're in here, they're 46 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:07,680 like you know what, it's not how I imagine, and now I'm going 47 00:03:07,719 --> 00:03:12,879 to leave. I would prefer you just to not go in to teaching if 48 00:03:12,919 --> 00:03:15,199 you don't think that you can handle it. So again, what's your wife? 49 00:03:15,599 --> 00:03:20,719 So the next mistake that people make is overlooking whether or not they actually 50 00:03:20,759 --> 00:03:24,280 like working with children. I know this seems obvious that you should want to 51 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:29,000 work with children, whether they're an elementary, middle or high school, but 52 00:03:29,199 --> 00:03:34,159 you'd be surprised by how many people go into the profession and it don't necessarily 53 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:38,479 like working with kids. It's odd. It's odd. It's odd because here's 54 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:40,680 the thing. In order for you to be effective as a teacher, you 55 00:03:40,759 --> 00:03:46,080 have to be willing and able to build relationships with these kids. So if 56 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:50,639 you go over to someone's house and their kid is around and it's awkward, 57 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:55,319 like you just have a hard time interacting with kids in general, maybe really 58 00:03:55,319 --> 00:03:59,639 think whether or not you want to be a teacher. If you don't know 59 00:03:59,639 --> 00:04:02,360 how to talk to a high schooler in a way that doesn't make them like 60 00:04:02,879 --> 00:04:08,360 necessarily roll their eyes at you or walk out of the room, maybe that's 61 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,439 not the age group that you should be working with. But if you really 62 00:04:11,439 --> 00:04:15,159 get along with younger students, saying you can talk to them in a way 63 00:04:15,199 --> 00:04:17,680 that gets them to listen to you and get them to be excited about what 64 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,879 you're talking about. Maybe that's the age group that you should go with. 65 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:27,720 I've actually mentored teachers that are new to the profession who are second career teachers, 66 00:04:27,759 --> 00:04:30,639 meaning they've worked somewhere else, and they're really intelligent people. They have 67 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:35,040 a lot of information and because of that, they assume that they could teach 68 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:41,240 the information. However, they lack the ability to really relate and interact with 69 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:46,160 students, and also they have a really hard time breaking down concepts for other 70 00:04:46,199 --> 00:04:49,279 people to understand. So if you're someone who's just really really smart in a 71 00:04:49,319 --> 00:04:53,879 subject area, that does not mean that you should become a teacher or that 72 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:57,600 you're even going to be good at it In terms of public school, I 73 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:01,560 mean, maybe at a community college or at a university, but not everyone 74 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:08,000 is cut out to teach in public education. Just being honest, the third 75 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:12,920 mistake that so many people make when they're deciding to become a teacher is neglecting 76 00:05:13,079 --> 00:05:15,920 interpersonal and communication skills. I don't think I have to tell you that being 77 00:05:15,959 --> 00:05:20,800 able to communicate effectively is really important as a teacher. That only because you 78 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:25,399 need to break down concepts for students, but you also have to be able 79 00:05:25,439 --> 00:05:29,959 to hould conversations with them, puld conversations with other adults who maybe make you 80 00:05:30,079 --> 00:05:33,600 uncomfortable, and to also work as a team with other teachers. I mean, 81 00:05:33,720 --> 00:05:39,439 communication is how you convey knowledge to your students, also provide guidance to 82 00:05:39,519 --> 00:05:44,319 them one on one, and just foster an effective learning environment. In general, 83 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:47,040 you're going to have a very difficult time building trust with both your students 84 00:05:47,079 --> 00:05:51,240 and their parents and building faith in your administrator that you know what you're doing 85 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:56,480 if you can't communicate effectively. So what does this mean. It means that 86 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:00,639 teaching can be really difficult if you are on the more introverted side, if 87 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:04,519 you're someone who's easily intimidated by others, especially other adults, or if you 88 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:09,920 can't really assert yourself in situations, you're just going to have a really difficult 89 00:06:09,959 --> 00:06:14,120 time getting across what you're trying to say what you mean because of your lack 90 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:18,720 of communication and interpersonal skills. I actually know of teachers that are brilliant in 91 00:06:18,759 --> 00:06:23,360 the classroom, but when it comes time to working with other adults, who, 92 00:06:23,399 --> 00:06:26,720 by the way, are just as much a part of teaching as the 93 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:30,959 kids. If you can't work with other adults and talk to them and get 94 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:34,480 along with them because of how you are, you're really going to struggle as 95 00:06:34,519 --> 00:06:39,839 a teacher. I just hate to say it. To really assess your communication 96 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:44,839 skills. Are you able to explain concepts clearly? Are you able to actively 97 00:06:44,959 --> 00:06:47,360 listen to other people without just trying to come up with the next thing that 98 00:06:47,399 --> 00:06:51,079 you're going to say, Because this is really important in terms of being able 99 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:55,480 to listen to students and figure out how to help them. If this is 100 00:06:55,519 --> 00:06:59,160 something that you struggle with, like maybe you don't get along with a lot 101 00:06:59,199 --> 00:07:02,079 of people, and you may want to work on your interpersonal and communication skills 102 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:08,279 before becoming a teacher, because otherwise you're going to find yourself really dissatisfied in 103 00:07:08,319 --> 00:07:12,839 this environment. And just again being honest, The next mistake, and this 104 00:07:12,879 --> 00:07:17,319 is a big one, is underestimating the stress and pressure of teaching. You've 105 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:23,399 probably heard some horror stories about how difficult and stressful teaching can be, and 106 00:07:23,439 --> 00:07:26,879 you know what, most of them are true. I don't really think a 107 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,439 lot of people understand the emotional demands of teaching. Again, they might see 108 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:35,199 something on TikTok or Instagram in terms of a teacher who's like smiling at their 109 00:07:35,199 --> 00:07:40,360 students. The kids are raising their hand and the kids are interacting and everyone's 110 00:07:40,399 --> 00:07:45,879 having fun. And yes, that absolutely happens a lot. In fact, 111 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:47,839 it happens a lot in my classroom, if I'm being honest, and it 112 00:07:47,879 --> 00:07:53,959 does happen a lot in classrooms across the world. However, there are also 113 00:07:54,079 --> 00:07:59,000 a lot of classrooms where there's constant disruptions, where there are disrespectful students, 114 00:07:59,279 --> 00:08:05,360 there are me and belligerent parents, and they're administrators that are toxic, frankly, 115 00:08:05,759 --> 00:08:09,759 So you have to be someone who can deal with stress and pressure. 116 00:08:09,839 --> 00:08:13,720 You have to be someone who can work under a deadline or work under the 117 00:08:13,759 --> 00:08:16,959 pressure of an administrator who wants you to reach certain goals for these students, 118 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:20,160 or who wants you to be a certain way, and who's going to criticize 119 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:22,800 the things that you do in your classroom. Can you handle that? Do 120 00:08:22,839 --> 00:08:28,439 you have thick enough skin? Are you someone who can handle stress and maintain 121 00:08:28,439 --> 00:08:31,399 your composure at the same time, Do you have enough grit to handle this 122 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,000 job because it's not for the faint of heart. And maybe you're someone who 123 00:08:35,039 --> 00:08:39,159 likes to challenge and you're like, yeah, I can totally handle anything that 124 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:41,919 you throw at me, but can you love it? Can you love the 125 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:45,320 stress? And can you get to a point where you've worked out your systems 126 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:48,279 enough like I have? And teaching is a lot less stressful. So this 127 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:52,759 is definitely something that you need to be honest with yourself about. If you're 128 00:08:52,799 --> 00:08:58,080 someone who is very anxious, if you're someone who is prone to depression and 129 00:08:58,279 --> 00:09:03,559 anxiety, I just can't see how teaching would benefit you in any way because 130 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:09,600 it is really stressful at times. It really stressful. The next mistake that 131 00:09:09,639 --> 00:09:13,840 people make when deciding to become a teacher is ignoring the need for adaptability and 132 00:09:13,919 --> 00:09:20,519 patience. So teaching is going to require you to be flexible and adaptable at 133 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:24,480 a moment's notice. So if you were someone who needs things to happen in 134 00:09:24,519 --> 00:09:28,519 a certain way at a certain time, teaching is that that. Because you 135 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:33,519 just never know, someone is going to talk out lot in class and you're 136 00:09:33,519 --> 00:09:35,679 going to lose your train at thought, or they're going to yell across the 137 00:09:35,759 --> 00:09:41,200 room or throw something across the room and it's going to disrupt the entire class, 138 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:43,720 or without any notice, there's going to be an assembly and it's going 139 00:09:43,799 --> 00:09:48,240 to interrupt your lesson plans, and it's going to throw your pacing off completely 140 00:09:48,399 --> 00:09:54,000 and the students. You know, teachers say this every year, that you 141 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,360 know the kids are not all right this year, kids have changed. And 142 00:09:56,519 --> 00:10:00,279 I don't know, it makes me feel old to say that, but it's 143 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:03,919 true. Kids are changing. Kids are definitely different, especially post pandemic. 144 00:10:05,039 --> 00:10:09,519 They were also becoming more difficult right before the pandemic, but definitely since then. 145 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:13,399 You might have heard of horror stories at this point about what it's like 146 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:18,679 in classrooms, and they're not all wrong, They're really not. And so 147 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:22,879 do you have patience to work with difficult students? Can you adapt to unreasonable 148 00:10:22,879 --> 00:10:28,440 and unideal situations with grace? I think it's really important to be able to 149 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:33,279 handle things like misbehavior without losing your cool. That's the best way to get 150 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:37,159 kids to not want to misbehave in your class. But I've seen time and 151 00:10:37,159 --> 00:10:43,360 time again teachers snap back at students or kind of have a little meltdown when 152 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:46,320 someone is misbehaving, which, by the way, it eggs on that student 153 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:50,080 and makes them want to do it more. And then there are extreme cases 154 00:10:50,159 --> 00:10:54,240 like maybe a student is going to tell you to f off, or they're 155 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:56,600 going to swear at you, or they're just going to leave the room. 156 00:10:56,679 --> 00:11:00,240 What are you going to do about that? Are you going to turn red 157 00:11:00,279 --> 00:11:03,960 in the face and lose your cool? How adaptable and patient are you when 158 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:09,200 you're working with students who have emotional trauma, students who have issues going on 159 00:11:09,279 --> 00:11:13,159 at home, who maybe you weren't parented in a way that's affected for them. 160 00:11:13,159 --> 00:11:16,480 What are you going to be able to do about it in your classroom? 161 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:20,879 So if you're someone who can be patient and who can adapt easily, 162 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:24,279 then you're going to thrive in teaching, not gonna lie. You're going to 163 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:28,759 be put in really difficult situations and you're going to thrive regardless. But if 164 00:11:28,799 --> 00:11:33,000 you're someone who gets really thrown off and really frustrated and you just want to 165 00:11:33,039 --> 00:11:37,039 give up, you probably should reconsider whether or not you want to teach. 166 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:41,679 And the next mistake that a lot of people make in terms of whether or 167 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:45,440 not they should teach is failing to consider whether or not they have a strong 168 00:11:45,559 --> 00:11:50,080 support system. So again, teaching is not for the faint of heart, 169 00:11:50,159 --> 00:11:54,519 and they're going to be very many situations when you were frustrated, you want 170 00:11:54,519 --> 00:11:56,240 to throw your hands up, you want to give up, or you just 171 00:11:56,320 --> 00:12:01,799 completely delve into teaching and grading and everything and you just block everything out. 172 00:12:01,879 --> 00:12:05,440 If you don't have a strong support system, then you're really going to have 173 00:12:05,639 --> 00:12:09,600 poor work life balance and you're probably going to give up. I mean, 174 00:12:09,639 --> 00:12:15,279 there are long work hours, a lot of grading, a lot of paperwork, 175 00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:18,600 a lot of meetings, and so these are things that you need to 176 00:12:18,639 --> 00:12:22,480 consider because if you don't have someone who can pull you away from work, 177 00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:26,799 who can get you to spend some time on yourself and not have to worry 178 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:31,720 about work, which a lot of teachers they end up doing, then you're 179 00:12:31,759 --> 00:12:35,639 going to get burnt out and you're inevitably going to quit. So ask yourself, 180 00:12:35,679 --> 00:12:39,000 do you have friends and family who are there for you when times get 181 00:12:39,039 --> 00:12:43,559 really tough as a teacher, or maybe that you have a therapists that you 182 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:48,159 can talk to or your church. Just basically ask yourself if you have the 183 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:52,000 supports there. Even if you feel like you're really stable and adaptable as I 184 00:12:52,039 --> 00:12:56,200 mentioned before, and patient, you still want to make sure that you have 185 00:12:56,240 --> 00:13:00,679 some kind of system there to support you for when teaching gets it's really really 186 00:13:00,679 --> 00:13:03,840 hard and you're ready to throw in the towel. So does this mean that 187 00:13:03,919 --> 00:13:07,360 you shouldn't teach? Absolutely not. I love teaching. I've been teaching for 188 00:13:07,519 --> 00:13:11,080 twenty two years and I've got at least another twenty years left in me, 189 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:16,000 and I'm sure that I'm going to enjoy it till the very end of my 190 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:18,600 career. But these are just some things that you should ask yourself when you're 191 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:22,399 trying to decide to become a teacher, because the like I've said before, 192 00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:26,919 I don't think that you should even become one if you can't address all six 193 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:31,080 of these areas and feel confident that you've got them down, that you've got 194 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:35,639 them conquered. I would actually like to hear about the things that you're struggling 195 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:39,919 with as a teacher, because I know that there's a lot of disillusionment and 196 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:43,120 people that want to quit, and I'm always trying to find ways to help 197 00:13:43,159 --> 00:13:46,320 teachers so that they don't quit, but I do understand when you do, 198 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:50,799 so i'd love to hear about what you're struggling with and maybe I can make 199 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:54,399 an episode about it. Be sure to email me at Kim at teachers Need 200 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:56,960 teachers dot com. Thanks for hanging out with me today, you guys, 201 00:13:56,960 --> 00:13:58,200 and I will see you next time.