I asked the simple question, “What do you love about teaching?” on Twitter the other day. Here are some of the responses:

My EAL student (from years ago) whatsapped me yesterday to tell me – quite proudly – that she got a 2 (equivalent to B) on her English test. For the first time in her life. The feels! So proud! These moments are my favourite thing.

— Alicia Bankhofer (@aliciabankhofer) March 21, 2019

watching a student succeed in applying a concept I have taught them is my favorite. Their success makes it all worth it!

— Jennifer Egan (@jenegan24) March 24, 2019

The light in St’s eyes after helping them in some way with a kind word, or by helping St understand something, or by helping St feel better about who they are with a ‘Good morning’ or by saying hello or by waving a hand – “I see you.” #TeacherLife

— Aldo Barovier (@aldobar64) March 22, 2019

…the freedom that I give my students to become thinkers and the permission to go beyond the norm.

— Seane Clifton, Ed.S. (@koffe1_seane) March 21, 2019

When students come to understand that they matter.

— Cori Saas (@corisaas) March 23, 2019

Announcements. Not the daily ones…. but graduation announcements of a student who is the first in their family to do so. Wedding announcements from two students who met in my class. Announcement of a new baby. The announcing of a former student with their first teaching job.

— 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐞 𝐖. 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫® (@BradleeWSkinner) March 21, 2019

If you look at the tweet and the responses (there are over 400 responses), the answers you see tell you a ton about educators, that goes beyond just “teaching content.” The majority of educators that I come into contact with care more about their students as people than learners, although they know both are important.

But there is also a lot said in the absence of answers.

For example, many people outside education would tell you that many teachers LOVE teaching because of the “summer breaks” and “short-work days.” First of all, teachers do a great ton of work outside of the classroom that people do not see and have no idea of their dedication beyond the “timeframe” of a school day. Whether it is assessments, professional learning, or the myriad of paperwork that teachers do, the days are not what they seem to the outside. You still do not see “summer vacation” as dominating the answers.

The other thing that is noticeably absent is “tests” or being “data-driven.” The response to this could be, “Well…that is because teachers don’t want accountability” but if you read many of the answers, the accountability is in seeing their students achieve things that were not possible before entering school, or inspiring a curiosity that will serve students now and in the future. It is insanely tough work to encourage and develop students to go above and beyond and realize their potential, but you can see in the answers, that the goal is the majority of teachers that answered. As a parent, I am more concerned that teachers bring out the best in my daughter than continuously focus on what she can’t do.

I tweeted this question out because I have been reading a lot about the importance of gratitude in our lives and work and I asked the question to highlight educators around that love doing what they do. It is sometimes important that we remind ourselves why we do what we do, while outside forces (and unfortunately, sometimes from the inside) tend to bring negativity into the profession.

Ultimately, when reading the tweets, it reminded me of the importance of purpose in the work teachers do every day. Administrators need to remember how vital “purpose” is in our work and how it is crucial that we never lose sight of that focus, or we are in risk of losing why teachers got into the profession in the first place.