Gig

Yesterday, I received an email from a peer. She was frustrated, sad, and angry. While I'm not going to copy the content of her email to this forum, the general gist was this: "I'm working harder than ever and no one cares. There are only complaints. Why would anyone EVER decide to be a teacher?". As I read her email, a part of me felt relieved to see that I am not alone in my experience. The following is a portion of my response to her. It is pretty general, the details aren't important and were addressed subsequently. I post this portion here to remind myself later - for the bad days:

....The fact is that sometimes teaching sucks. Excuse my language, but being a college instructor is a shit ton of work that is typically under-compensated and clearly under-appreciated. This is especially true in the case of online learning. Students typically do not have relationships with their distance professors. They don't know them as people and don't have to look them in the eye. Thus, it is easy to attack. It is easy not to care. It is easy for them to forget that there is a person who is affected by their complaints. College students are also an arrogant and entitled bunch. It is a part of the developmental process, I suppose.

It seems that each person has his or her motivation for teaching. I do it because I love the creativity it allows me. I also love that sometimes I make some stellar connections with students and impact their thinking. As cheesy as it may sound, I think I am able to make a difference via teaching. In my other life, I am a counselor so this desire to make a difference really comes as no surprise. I like online teaching because it allows me additional flexibility. One day I'd like to be home with some children and still be able to make a living. Thus, I stick with the gig. Some days are better than others. On the shit days, I rant more on twitter. I drink more coffee then too. I also lose sleep and question myself. Luckily, the good days outweigh the bad ones at this point. It certainly helps that I balance the online thing with face-to-face courses as well.

Teaching isn't about perfection. It is not an instructor's job to be best friends with each student. I am here to challenge, inspire, and make people question. At the end of the day, that is what I want to do. If that ability is somehow compromised, then I no longer want the gig.