What will I teach you?

I’ve been thinking about becoming a teacher and the influence that teachers have on the lives of their students. The few classes I have taught have been good experiences that I really enjoyed. I’m energized when students become excited about what I have been excited about. I get to share my thoughts and interests as well as information that has become meaningful to me. I get to share the learning that changed my life in order to change the lives of others. The essential work of a teacher is to “rub off” on others. Students go to school and take classes in order to learn what a teacher knows, which is learning to be like the teacher in that area of study. Usually, the influence does not stop with textbook knowledge though. We all tend to remember teachers that influenced us in other ways. Teachers we wanted to be like or admired personally. We get more from teachers than we expect and they teach more than they realize.

But this is also true of everyone around us, not just the official teacher - student relationship. We teach our family, friends, and co-workers all the time. We teach them what matters to us and how we feel about others and our situations. As social beings, we all learn how to act and what to believe by those around us. Not only does this mean that we can tell each other how we want them to behave or what we like, but we also learn from the examples around us - and create an example for others. We often unconsciously teach our children to resent or value the things that we do. We teach our co-workers what matters about our work by the way we do our jobs. We teach our spouses what respect means to us by the way we treat them.

Regardless of my profession, I have to realize that I teach every day. As long as someone sees me, interacts with me, or hears what I say, I am a teacher. I can help get others excited by what excites me just by sharing that. Daily, I am an example of what I believe and value.

I can choose the “right” answer objectively as to what I think I should esteem, but do I teach you that by the way I live? Is my life the example and most important parts of what I want people to know about me? If not, my contradictions render me useless. Be the example. Realize the message you teach.