Love it or Leave it!!

A part of who I am and what I do involves professional development. I am in the midst of developing a strategy to grow and enhance my sole proprietorship, a teacher training and tutoring business.

A couple of months ago, I conducted a workshop for a local YMCA's summer day camp staff. One of the things I briefly discuss in every training involving teachers, camp staff, or school age child care staff is to love what they do or leave for some other job. While that may be an unwelcome statement, especially given today's economic situations, being involved in the social, academic, and mental development of children and youth is nothing to take lightly.

My heart was made very happy when a staff member of the YMCA informed me that a particular individual who sat in the training had not even started the day camp season. Happy, you say? Why would such a thing make me happy?

Having been involved in teaching, tutoring, mentoring, supervising, orchestrating, and directing youth programs for more than 15 years now, one begins to develop a sixth sense about discerning people that love working with children and/or are willing to learn and those who are not going to make it. Just from the way this young lady presented herself in the training, I intentionally made emphasis to leave the profession because from my perspective she didn't have what it would take to last an eleven-week camp program.

Might I have been presumptuous? Maybe. But again, one begins to develop sixth sense about such things.

Now, allow me to explain why I respect her highly! While I do not know the real reason why she didn't start and while I do not even know her as a person nor could I call her name or recognize her walking down the street, I do respect the fact that she left. Perhaps realizing that this wasn't for her, she seems to be mature enough to realize that she would do more harm than good if she were to aggressively pursue remaining on staff.

To all of the hateful, spiteful, "I hate kids" teachers out there....either love it or leave it. It's bad enough this profession is generally not respected. Realtors can go through a 10 month course and teach 3rd grade and bus drivers can take a weekend workshop and teach 7th grade chemistry. So it's bad enough the profession isn't respected. The last thing we need are teachers who have the credentials and spent the time fine-tuning their craft complaining and being bitter. Goodbye! Your time is done!