2. Patience. You have to work with kids who aren’t going to “get” it the first time. So many teachers become English teachers because they were good at English (Math for Math, etc.) But TEACHING means imparting material to people who don’t already know it. That takes patience.

3. Preserverence. People don’t know how hard it is to be a teacher. They think that teachers work 7 hours a day 180 days a year. But they don’t know about all of the late night homework grading or the summers spent on professional development. They don’t know about coaching the JV girls basketball team and getting back from away games at 11:00 p.m. two nights a week only to be back at school to make copies on the one working copy machine at 6:30.

4. A sense of Humor. If you make it fun, kids will learn. Think about how many kids who hated to read read Harry Potter — because it was fun! Also, kids will try your patience, but you need to be able to reply with humor so that you can create a rapport.

5. A sense of mission. You could make a lot more money doing a lot of other things. You should choose teaching out of a sense of mission — educating kids, mentoring them, and watching them grow.

Okay, it’s not an essay. But it’s a start.

Good luck.