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| Bill Haber / Associated Press |
Teachers seem to get into and stay in the classroom for one
of three reasons. The first is a competitiveness with results that drives each
hour of planning and execution to ensure ones’ students are performing beyond
what society expects of them, approaching and becoming the best. A second is a
love of content. From the most sincere passion for young adult literature to an
ongoing fascination with earth history. The final is an intrinsic and
inexplicable magnetism toward young people. A feeling of rightness when
interacting with children and teenagers and helping them discover their purpose
and develop their path for life. Thinking
back about my own teachers and the teachers I now call peers, everyone
certainly has a combination of the three. But it does seem as though teachers’
natural tendencies lean in one particular direction of this triangle. An
intrinsic care for and desire to work with young people has been my motivator
for entering the classroom through TFA and staying there beyond my two years. The
underpaid long hours are certainly on my mind, but alleviated by individual
moments with kids.
What unsettles me most is knowing that, even with students I’ve
spent hundreds of hours with during and out of school, I continue to question
the transformational impact other teachers and I have had. How long will that
unknown impact even last? This questionable effect can be, at times, maddening
but is forever motivating. Success for each and every young person is possible.
There can always be more, and schools can always be better. And they need
people to be around for years to make them that way. I will be here.
Author: Denali Lander
5th Year Teacher
8th Grade ELA
Kipp Central City Academy, New Orleans, LA
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