Tip #1- Once a teacher, always a teacher...

"So you're not teaching anymore?"

I never know how to answer this question. No, I'm not teaching in a classroom anymore, with regular teaching hours (and those of us who are teachers know that there really is nothing "regular" about our hours), with my particular bunch of students who walk in every day and call me by my last name, but...

I think that once you are a teacher, you are always a teacher in some way. The people who teach from their heart, who love to share what they know with others, and who explain the workings of something rather than just doing it for another... I think we never lose that part of us. It is just a part of our personalities. It can never really be taken from us, and even if we wanted to, we can't just STOP the teacher in us. Even if we put it aside for a little while, it just reemerges when we are asked a question, or when we see that someone is in need of help or understanding. And even when we ourselves are wanting to learn something new, we find a way to teach it to ourselves in memorable ways. We enjoy showing others and ourselves how to solve a new problem, how to just make sense of something.

I may not be in my own classroom anymore, but every day, whether I meet another stranger who needs help finding a particular place, or I'm with my niece (who is only three) and wants to know why something is the way it is, or if I'm on my own and am trying to grasp new information about an unfamiliar topic, I am teaching others and myself.

And I believe this is going to continue - me teaching in different forms, in different situations, to different people. But teaching,... always.

How you can make use of this tip:

We might complain sometimes about having to take our teaching jobs home with us (being overwhelmed with marking, planning, assessing, having our students on our minds constantly, dealing with the pressure of students' progress or lack of progress reflecting on us as teachers).

But teachers have the luxury of taking their skills wherever they go, whether in or out of a classroom. And often, this can connect us to new friends, new opportunities, as well as allowing us to see the true gift that teachers possess. Not everyone can impart knowledge with the patience, clarity and enthusiasm that a teacher can. Celebrate the fact that you are among those who can and enjoy it wherever you go!