There is a big difference in teachers who teach the content and those that are advocates for their students. I feel that those teachers who teach the content are just punching a timecard and do not see the whole picture when it comes to teaching. There is more to teaching than an 8:00-3:30 job. A real teacher is the one who gets into their work and wants their students to excel.

Teachers who are advocates for their students look at them as more than empty heads that need to be filled with knowledge. Students are real people with real problems and need to be nurtured socially, physically, as well as mentally. The student advocate will make accommodations for the student to help them achieve the most that they can as an individual. They will take time to find out where they come from and where they are heading and try to assist them in their journey, wherever that may be. Hopefully along the way, we can encourage and enlighten them and become a better facilitator for their individual learning.

Teachers must see their students as individuals and try, to the best of their ability, to accommodate for all those differences. An undaunting task to say the least, but one that must be tackled head on. Without caring and understanding people behind the teacher persona, the term teacher loses its meaning and place in the students’ lives. In order for a teacher to become an advocate, they need to take their job as more than a job; take it as a lifestyle that must change, adjust and grow every day.

Think about that teacher who made you want to teach. Was it a good teacher who you could aspire to? Maybe it was the one who made you think you could do it better. Either way, they help you to identify the content teacher and the true student advocate. Personally, I like the student advocate and hope that I can become this type of person in my day-to-day living. This will help both me as a person and the student as a person become better and better in everything we say and do in life.

Teaching is a special kind of calling. It isn’t something that is done for the pay or the hours, it is done for the kids, and that is what it takes to become their advocate; not time, not extra work, but true caring for their well-being. More and more I am understanding this and embracing this concept. "I touch the future, I teach." I used to find this saying kind of corny. I’ve always understood it, but now I am really beginning to believe it and live it. Without the students, what kind of teacher could I ever be?