Teaching has got to be one of the most draining professions in the world, yet it is also one of the most important. It is one that the teacher will not necessarily see the positive long-term effects of immediately, and that is one of the things I find frustrating about it. Sometimes I feel like I spend the majority of class time yelling at the kids and telling them to be quiet so that I can impart the lesson and feel some form of gratification from what I'm doing. I find myself feeling spent when I leave many of my classes -- my voice from yelling and my body from constantly standing and moving about the classroom. But the levels of stress ebb and flow like the tides depending on the size of the class and their particular ability level and energy. I have to reacclimate myself every time I step into a new class. Teaching English to foreigners is especially challenging because I must always be careful to use the most simple words, to speak very slowly and clearly and to effectively demonstrate any games or activities I have planned. I have to do all of this above the din of kids from the kindergarten level up to middle school scream, pound on their desks, lean back in their chairs and come dangerously close to cracking their heads open, stand on their chairs, leave the classroom without permission, and the list could go on and on.

Teaching is an all consuming job. I have to be a disciplinarian, a manager, and an entertainer. On top of all of this I am the foreign teacher. I liken this status to the poor, unsuspecting substitute teachers all of us had from time to time in school while we were growing up. He or she would walk into the classroom and before they could shut the door it was party time for the children! I have to remind myself that my teaching is not all about me and my ego--my desire to get the kids speaking great English by the time I leave them. My only goals are to help them improve their English and make them feel good about themselves.