What do you think is the most challenging role a teacher plays? Why?

It’s so easy for the teacher to be fun and friendly. To be excited about teaching and wanting to be your student’s friend. I think the hard part is when you have to show a little tough love to kids. Being the boss isn’t always easy, to show kids there are consequences to their actions. It’s our job to prepare kids for the real world and if all we do is show them kittens and rainbows, how does that prepares them for the increase of responsibilities and work in coming years? Our goal as educators is to prepare these kids to be successful in life. It’s not just our goal but the goal of every school, state and even the whole nation.

Right now I am working with 6^th graders and many of them do not understand that in just a few short months they will be in junior high where childish tantrums and unfinished school work gets you know where. I was grading math packets and many of the students just left spaces, even pages blank. I gave them back to the teacher and together we had to talk to those students and explain to them that part of growing up is learning to be responsible and that teachers in junior high will not always give them a second chance at assignments. It was a very difficult conversation. Some of the kids even cried, how much easier would it have been for that teacher to just say “Oh their still young, we’ll cut them some slack.”