How much are you worth?!

You hear the alarm clock early in the morning ringing its batteries off and you are thinking: “I am not getting paid enough to be getting up so early for work!” It’s probably true. Think about all the hours of preparation you put into every class you teach – the research, the copying, the lesson plan, the thought and time you put into being a great teacher. I don’t have to convince you that this is a HUGE amount of work. Well is this HUGE amount of work worth a HUGE amount of money?

I mean we all know that becoming a teacher is a calling not a chore (although some pseudo-teachers may think it is). You have to be passionate about what you do and how you do it. Are you THE best teacher or are you slacking off whenever you can? The truth is, most teachers (luckily) accept their profession as a life-style. Talk about identifying yourself with your profession (which in many cases sounds and looks pathetic). Think about it: don’t you thin it is really sad to hear that an accountant identifies herself with her profession and with what she does. I mean there is nothing wrong with being surrounded with numbers and papers but if they were to be taken away, who will you be? That is how you realize whether you are really identifying yourself with what you do. Don’t get me wrong… I am not saying accountants are lousy people. Rather, I am trying to exaggerate for the purpose of comparison in this essay. So back to teachers… if students and schools were to be taken away… who will you be? I dare to think that the teaching profession is one of the few where outside it, the person is still the person they were while in it… except they would be a person with… more time on their hands. You will still be the sociable, cheerful, funny, smart, entertaining person who makes everyone laugh and even occasionally learn. You will still be the person who knows how to know people. In other words, you have the unique skill to read into people’s personalities and know exactly how to talk them and how to be their friends. Forgive me for putting it so bluntly, but you will still be useful to society. We do need people who would not answer: “I am a teacher” when asked “Who are you?”

Even if you are making less money than you think you should be, think about how lucky you are to just be practicing a profession which lets you be you. And if you want to raise your fees for your private tutoring lessons, do so. Make sure you let your students know why. Be honest with them. Instead of coming up with reasons such as the increasing cost of paper and transportation, books and inflation (which I am sure are viable reasons), let them know that you are worth more because you have improved, because you are the best they can get, because you make them learn. Ask them to argue with you if they think it is necessary. Ask them to prove you wrong. See if they can show you what a lousy teacher you are. I bet they won’t be able to. And even if they do come up with all sorts of reasons and eventually decide to seek someone else’s services, remember: you are still you. The fact that a student decides to leave you because of a fee increase does not make you less of a person (not to mention less of a teacher). You will be able to find new students and you know it. No matter how many students you lose, you will never lose your personality and passion for teaching. Now THAT is worth a lot! So go ahead… go brush your teeth and head to work – it’s time to teach a lesson.