TITLE: Things People Should Know About Being a Teacher
AUTHOR: Eugene Wallingford
DATE: August 30, 2016  3:36 PM
DESC: 
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BODY:
In
<A HREF="http://www.vox.com/2015/7/29/9034235/teacher-common-core">
   7 things I wish people understood about being a teacher</A>,
Andrew Simmons captures a few of the things that make teaching
so rewarding and so challenging.  If you don't understand these
truths, you may not understand why anyone would want to teach.
You also run the risk of misunderstanding the problems with our
education system and thus supporting changes that are unlikely
to fix them.  Check it out.

Even though Simmons writes of teaching high school, most of
what he says applies just as well to university professors.  I
especially liked this comment, on what software developers call
<A HREF="https://www.agilealliance.org/glossary/sustainable/">
   sustainable pace</A>

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
 ... would-be superteachers are smart, sometimes masochistic 23-year-olds
 working 18-hour days to pump up test scores for a few years before moving
 on to administrative positions, law school, or nervous breakdowns.  They
 embrace an unsustainable load.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

I used to wonder why so many good teachers ended up leaving the
classroom.  One reason is burn-out.  Universities burn out
researchers and teachers alike by pushing them onto a treadmill,
or by letting them get on and stay there of their own volition.
Good teaching can happen every year, if we learn how to maintain
balance.

My favorite line of the article, though, is this gem:

<BLOCKQUOTE><EM>
 Everything I learn is filtered through the possibility that it
 might be taught.
</EM></BLOCKQUOTE>

When I read that line, I nodded my head silently.  This guy really
is a teacher.
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