Thoughts on being a Teacher

I've always wanted to be a teacher. Well, ever since high school when I decided that becoming a veterinarian was not in my future. I believe that my skills and talents all add to being a "good" teacher as well. And this leads me to my thoughts on teaching (for the day)... As a teacher, I desire for my students to succeed. All of them! I want my students to learn. I want my students to do well in their classes. AND I want my students to succeed. This is why there are two things this year that have made me very angry in my current position. I'm teaching English at a University; Me, and Elementary Education major, teaching University. I have to admit it is quite strange to call myself a "professor", so I don't get too upset when my students just call me "Heidi". One thing I really appreciate about teaching at University is that you don't have to deal with classroom discipline too much. The students (for the most part) understand how the classroom structure and hierarchy work. Sometimes they listen, sometimes they sleep, but because they are now entering into the world of adulthood, its not really my job to make sure that they are perfect students. (though let me tell you, I TRY!) I usually don't have to scold them for talking too much and I haven't yet had any fights break out in my class. No, my biggest problem is not getting them to stop talking, but the opposite... how do I get them to START talking! All of this aside, I really enjoy my job. Many of my students have made a lot of progress in learning English and speaking English. When I look at the final exams and see how far my students have come I feel like I have succeeded and I am very proud of their progress. SO then, the two things that made me angry this year (to the point of tears)- 1) When the country of Korea decided to curve every class that has more than 10 students. 25% A, 30%B, everyone else C,D,F... I had to give students with a 90% in the class a C+... I cried for them. 2) When my Wednesday class of theater students missed out on 5 classes (FIVE! that's out of a total of 15- that's 30%!) because of holidays, festivals, sports days and a demonstration. I cannot believe that my University has so many "mandatory" events for specific majors that causes them to miss their other classes. This seems completely counter intuitive (welcome to Korea) and just plain dumb. So, why am I angry? Because I like these students. They are fun (and funny) kids that I get along well with. And this semester has been a perfect storm for failure for this class. I won't have to worry about the grading curve in this class because MOST of the students will FAIL. This upsets me greatly. What can a person do in order to encourage learning and success when there are so many factors against that outcome? Well, this person got a little bit upset and then enjoyed a bottle of wine. Here is to hoping that next semester avoids these challenges...