Switching careers is often an overwhelming prospect, particularly if you’re unsure what you want to do. Yet, if you find that
and become their best selves, you might have some of the qualities of a good teacher.
Teaching is an extremely rewarding career as it allows you to shape young minds and set students up for success later in life. As an added bonus, many teaching specialties, such as special education and mathematics are in extremely high demand, which can help provide job security in the coming years.
However, if teaching represents a complete shift in career paths for you, you may find yourself wondering how you’ll know if you’d make a good teacher. To help you make this important decision, here’s a look at a few signs that you should consider switching to teaching.
You're Concerned About The Future
While it may sound cliché to say that teachers shape the minds that will change the future, there’s a lot of truth in it. No matter the age of their students, teachers can have a profound effect on the way young people view the world around them.
As society continues to grapple with new problems like climate change and social justice, teachers are in a unique position to give students the tools they'll need to make a difference down the road. Teachers have the opportunity to instruct students on the biggest problems facing humanity and inspire them to make a change.
They truly get to lay the foundation for our future in a changing world. Becoming a teacher will allow you to be part of this movement.
You Have a Good Deal of Patience
While the teaching profession can be extremely fulfilling, it’s by no means an “easy” career. Patience will be an essential skill should you plan to become a teacher, regardless of the age or subject you choose to teach.
Whether you’re working with hyperactive kindergarteners or restless high schoolers, you'll need patience to hold the attention of the classroom without losing your composure. As a teacher, it will be your job to work past this obstacle and find a way to keep students engaged.
You're a good storyteller
To keep students engaged and help them grasp difficult concepts, it is essential that a prospective teacher be a good storyteller. Whether you're teaching math, science, English, or history, you’ll have the difficult job of presenting material to students in a way that is entertaining, educational, and memorable.
Teachers can benefit from the ability to craft and tell good stories. They need to be able to explain the hows, whys, and whats of the material they’re trying to teach their students and make them excited to learn more. If you're a natural and charismatic storyteller who finds it easy to captivate an audience, then teaching may be the perfect career choice for you.
You're organized
Perhaps more than in any other career, staying organized is essential to success as a teacher. At any given time, teachers may have to plan, schedule, and keep track of school trips, lesson plans, and parent meetings for upwards of 150 students. This also means keeping track of hundreds, or even thousands, of homework assignments, essays, tests, and worksheets.
The only way to handle all of this without becoming overwhelmed is if you've learned ways to remain organized and efficient. If you're great at multitasking and keeping track of various deadlines, and you're good about sticking to your schedule and to-do list, then you'll likely thrive as a teacher.
You want your work to be meaningful
While it's true that people rarely become teachers with the hope of getting rich, it is an extremely meaningful career path. People who become teachers usually do so because they don't want to work in a boring office job doing the same thing every day. Instead, they want a career that will present new challenges every day and provide opportunities to make a difference in the world.
If you're tired of feeling unfulfilled in your career and want to start making an impact on society, then you should seriously consider becoming a teacher. Teaching is an extremely fulfilling career path where you can feel confident that you're doing meaningful work that is shaping the lives of the students you're working with.
Join the Teaching Profession at SHU
If you’ve ever asked yourself if becoming a teacher is a good idea, we hope this article helped you identify the traits and qualities you have that make the answer a resounding yes. Want some more guidance on why to consider making a switch to teacher? Check out
, a free resource for individuals like you who are considering a new career in education.
