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Teaching Without Limits: Building a Life Beyond the Classroom
Why Setting Boundaries and Creating Multiple Income Streams Makes You a Better Educator.
T, released in 1978, asks the question, “Who are you?” Most of us who teach take great pride in the fact that we are teachers. I love walking into a mom-n-pop Mexican restaurant and sitting at the table where one of my students works. This gives me an opportunity to see them outside of my classroom. I can enter into their world. Not only are they students, they are also bus-boys, waiters or waitresses. Maybe they play sports. One student’s father is a general contractor, and his son is a translator for him. They work together. Others, sadly only go to school. Just as students often have multiple roles outside the classroom, teachers too should cultivate an identity beyond their profession. Here are some questions that should haunt every teacher. “Where does school end?” “What separates school from family, friends or income?” and “What would happen to me if I lost my teaching job?” Maybe, it’s not teaching, maybe it’s something else, but the question is still valid. If we want an identity that is separate from “teacher”, or whatever profession we must create it. This is only possible if we establish clear boundaries that define who we are. By building our empire, we…
