Q & A with the NTOY in the Inquirer-Ledger

An excerpt from the article:

"Then how do we inspire more folks to become teachers and continue?

You can inspire them with the promise of changing lives, the promise of being a hero in the life of a child. … That's enough of a hook. The you share with them the funny stories, the fact that no day is like the next, that you get to make a thousand decisions, and while that's stressful at first, you get really, really good at being decisive fast.

You never know what's going to happen. A kid is going to barf, a dog is going to run into the classroom, a fire alarm is going to go off, one of your students may die -- I mean, you're just going to see all of it, and there's not a lot of jobs that give you that. So the pageant of humanity is on display, and kids are fun. They are fun people to hang out with. They are challenging, but I find that fun.

And then there's the part where I'm trying to advocate for leadership streams for ambitious college graduates who want to make a lot of money and want to have jobs of power and prestige. They won't come to teaching if it's a cul-de-sac. If you enter as a teacher and exit as a teacher, they won't come. But if you can enter as a teacher and become a master teacher and then a mentor teacher and then an expert teacher and then a teacher leader -- you can rise -- that's the best. You get all the glory of being a teacher, that heroic elements, but you also get some status and some money, and that's what all the real professions offer."

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2013/03/26/2439079/qa-with-national-teacher-of-the.html#storylink=cpy