For 14 years of my life, I was fortunate enough to be a teacher.  In that time I learned many lessons about life, people and how to treat others.  I was most interested in having a forum to teach valuable life lessons in the relatively safe environment of the classroom.  Where else can you learn about responsibility, work ethic, honesty and integrity in such a safe environment.

Let me share a few universal truths that teaching taught me.

Set standards for behavior.    Good teachers, as well as managers, know you need to be specific and spell things out. This is not micromanagement; it is positive reinforcement.  I always made sure that there were clear expectations for behavior and experiencing success in my class.  There can be no real gray area or the confusion will lead to wasted time and wasted effort.  Setting clear standards for the behavior you expect is paramount to success.

Insist on those standards. It is up to the teacher to make the standards real.  For example, if participation is important to you, you need to explain that  when students don’t participate , they deprive the class of their unique perspectives  in the learning process. I wanted students to draw conclusions about what I taught based on material I shared with them and what they heard from fellow students. When some students didn’t participate, they hurt the learning of others in the class. Likewise, when an employee fails to work productively, he or she hurts team performance.

Hold people accountable.  Leadership begins with accountability. When people don’t fulfill their obligation to a class, call them on it. If a student doesn’t get their homework done or doesn’t study for a test properly, it is your job to hold them accountable. Managers do this by docking pay; teachers do it by issuing lower grades.  All people have to be held accountable for their actions. If you can teach a student about this then they may not have to learn this lesson in a more painful and financially distressing way later in life.

Students, like employees, are accountable for results. They do the work and they are graded, compensated, and possibly rewarded. But too often we overlook the human dimension. Teachers should insist that students must abide by the three C’s: cooperate with one another, coordinate tasks inside and outside the classroom, and collaborate with each other for the greater good.

Every Person Is Unique

Every person is unique. And every time I interacted with another person during my classes, something magic happened. It’s hard to  describe it but when you allow someone the space and ability to grow you grow yourself. Suffice to say that I drastically improved my interpersonal skills.

The Great Things About Teaching

It is no mystery why most people get involved in becoming an educator, you have an opportunity to make a difference in someone else’s life every day.  Most people can look back to a time in their youth when they found an adult figure who liked them and believed in their abilities.  The chance to have that impact on people and to take advantage of it is a truly awesome thing.

Building relationships is another aspect of teaching that I think is often overlooked.  You are constantly building new relationships as each year brings new students into your classroom.  You are also in a position to benefit from the relationships you build with your co-workers as well.  Each individual that you come in contact with leaves some kind of impression.  It may be a small one or a large one depending on the interaction, but all leave an impression.  I can honestly say that 99% of the students and teachers I worked with made a positive impact on me.

Teaching is fun, most of the time.  I can remember all of the fun I had working with kids, getting them to learn about history despite themselves and their own dislike of the subject.  The most fun came from getting to know each other.

Here is a short list of things I learned while being a teacher.

– How to organize my time efficiently

– How to speak in front of a large group and small groups effectively.

– How to work well with individuals who have different interests.

-To look for the good in all people and the talent that they possess.

-The ability to handle a crisis, and give comfort to others.

– How to follow and enforce initiatives I don’t personally agree with.

– Being creative is ok.

– There is often more than one answer to problems

– Leadership

– Responsibility

– That I never have, nor will I ever, know it all.

– How to be respectful of others especially those that have different beliefs than you.

– Work within a system

– Putting extra time in is a requirement of the job.

-How to communicate effectively.

-How to analyze a problem, form a plan of action and implement that plan to solve the problem.