Chapter 1: Becoming a Teacher

• One joy of teaching is the sense of satisfaction that comes after a struggling student understands a complex concept. This is called intrinsic rewards. I think this is the main point of teaching.
  
• I would find extreme joy from talking about a subject that I love everyday and getting paid for it. I do not know what could be a better combination.
  
• Another joy is having varied lessons to suit different learning needs and styles. No day is the same. This does not make teaching dull and mundane, unlike some professions in which the same remedial task is performed every day.
• One not so joyful task that teachers must go through is school accreditation. I remember my AP English teacher complaining about all the work she was going to have to do because she was under review by the AP Board of Educators.
  
• School assessments are necessary but the stress the students feel to do well and the stress the teacher feels for the students' success reflecting on the teacher are not a joyful thing. Most of my high school teachers thought assessments were an interruption in the curriculum instead of a bench mark to validate their success as teachers.
  
• Most aspiring teachers want to go back to their home towns and teach at the school they graduated from. However, the text makes it clear that does not happen often. I guess it was a wake up call saying that young teachers need to go where the jobs are. Young, inexperienced teachers get to brave the hardest teaching environments, which is daunting to say the least.