Teacher with three young students

Why Teaching is a Good Career Choice

Teaching is one of the most rewarding careers one can choose; it can take a particular person to devote their lives to this challenging career path. You may have heard people talk about their jobs and how they go to work, collect their paycheck and look forward to retirement. Teaching is not a job. It's a way of life.

Colorado Christian University is proud to provide several degree programs in education, and we admire any student who chooses one of the most honorable of all professions.

Teachers Change Lives

Most adults can remember one teacher who had a significant impact on their lives and recall the nostalgia they get when they think about their old classroom, how the teacher prepared each lecture, and how they felt each day in this class.

Did you have a teacher who positively affected you that you decided to be a teacher yourself? Did you choose to teach so that you could help make sure other children were enriched with positive teachable moments in that to become aspirational and successful? Whatever the reason you have chosen to be a teacher, you can affect lives for as long as you're in the classroom. One word, gesture, or facial expression can reach a child's soul; teachers sometimes never truly fathom their impact on the students they teach.

One Teacher's Calling

We spoke to one former teacher (we will call her Susan) who said,

"I knew I wanted to be a teacher when I was in third grade. I had just moved from New York to West Virginia in the middle of the school year and was in my first week when something happened that affected my life forever. My third-grade teacher, Miss Miller, took me aside at recess and told me she saw I had been crying (I was so quiet I thought no one knew!) in class earlier that day. She said she was worried about me and wondered what made me so sad. I told her I had just moved here and no one would talk to me because I was from New York and my dad was a doctor, so they thought I was rich (I heard comments and murmurings during class) and stuck up (their words)."

"Miss Miller said that I was the only new kid at the school all year and that the students were as scared of meeting me as I was of meeting them. She took me inside and popped popcorn in an air popper, and gave me a big bowl to distribute on the playground. The kids came running over, and by the end of the day, I had 25 new friends and ended up having a great rest of the year. The kids had many questions about New York and wondered if I had a butler and a limousine. I explained I lived in a tiny house, had a station wagon that was rusting around the doors, and was wearing my brother's old sweatshirt. I was not "rich" and lived modestly just like they did."

"It was that day in third grade that I knew I wanted to do what Miss Miller did--make kids feel better. She noticed my sadness, which I thought I'd been hiding, and did something about it immediately. That small gesture changed my whole outlook on school, and from that day on, I looked forward to going to school every day instead of dreading it. My love of school continued until the day I got my master's degree, and it continued during my career as an English teacher."

"Years later, during a summer break, I ran into Miss Miller in a grocery store and told her about that day in third grade so many years ago and how it affected me. She looked shocked that something she had done on the playground touched me so deeply that I chose English education as my major and became a middle school teacher. While she may only have a vague memory of that day, I remember it as if it were yesterday."

Teachers Can Affect Change

Susan explained that she went to work as a teacher and was reminded of what she did (or did not do) in the classroom affected lives and that whether she liked it or not, the words that came out of her mouth and her actions would make a difference in young lives each day.

As an educator, you have an opportunity to make a positive everlasting difference in students' lives. You get a chance to inspire, motivate, uplift, celebrate, create, and reward students. In return, these students will grow into self-motivated individuals who will never forget that even if all they had was one person (you as their teacher) who believed in them.

Teachers have power and must use it as Christ wants them to. They must construct a learning environment in which children and teens feel safe and cared for; understand that your time with them is limited and that what goes on in your classroom is only one tiny part of their world. But a part that will contribute to who they become as a Christian and a citizen.

Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." (English Standard Version)

Become a Licensed Educator

The opportunities in the field of education are endless. CCU offers a variety of Colorado educator license programs:

Colorado state licensing programs typically consist of a combination of classwork and field experience. CCU education students are required to complete 800 hours of field experience, which begins your first year and you will work with local outstanding educators to gain real classroom experience and see great teachers in action.

 

Colorado Christian University does not guarantee any job placement as a result of earning this or any other degrees offered by the university.

To learn more about how you can become a licensed educator, click the link below.

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