Decorating your classroom/desk

I'm sure we've all seen a myriad of classrooms by now. Some teachers are very simplistic, opting in to do less clean-up come the end of the year, while others go all out with posters, pictures, paintings, and so much more. Your own classroom means your own rules (mostly). You can choose how elaborate or minimalist your classroom is. You can have a thematic room than never changes, or one that changes with the seasons. Whatever you do, it's an expression of yourself. It's the first thing students, parents, and your fellow staff will see about you.

Reading your student's essays

Reading might not sound even remotely fun to most people, but I'm becoming a high school English teacher. There is nothing more exhilarating than a good read. What really excites me about reading students' work is the fact that they can be so many things. They can be an unbelievably good paper, they can be comically bad, they could be very personal, or very entertaining. Seeing how your students write and what they write about help display a very personal part of who they are. How we write stems from how we think. Unless we're playing devil's advocate, we're going to write naturally, candidly.

Furthermore, you'd be able to see your students' progresses throughout the year. You'd see simple mistakes disappear, and hopefully simplistic and underdeveloped ideas slowly blossom into well-crafted writings.

Getting to master your favorite subject

Providing you don't go into early education or elementary education, then you're looking at four plus years of studying your favorite subject. It's kind of like the old saying, if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.

Making the rules

I'm sure we've all had an experience or two with a teacher that just came across as power hungry. They had numerous rules and strictly enforced them. Luckily, in your own classroom you can choose whether you want to be the good cop or the bad cop. Aside from school mandated rules, you'd have a full reign over things like bubble gum, music, chatting, bathroom breaks, and so on. You can choose to be strict and studious or comical and carefree. Ultimately, it's your sandbox. Throughout the years you can change it up until you find what works for you the best.

Watching your students learn

​Teaching is special. Knowledge is the least appreciated gift, but even if no one says thank you, you can still see the affect it has on them. You can see them grow into better, smarter people. You can watch Jimmy from 3rd block go from never using apostrophes, to mastering semicolons. Being a crucial and influential part of the process is a truly indescribably good feeling.

Being in the "know"

This is childish, but one thing I'm looking forward to a bit is being in the "know". In high school, there are so many whispers exchanged between teachers. The curiosity killed me a student, so hopefully, as a teacher I won't be left in the dark about everything.

Coming up with classroom activities/games

​While not all subjects are compatible with academic games, most are. It's a nice break of routine, not to mention it's a great way to reignite student's interests in the curriculum. (Especially when there's treats involved, which is both sad and endearing.) From Grudge-ball to Jeopardy to Kahoot, there are a lot of ways to review information with your students. Being the teacher means you determine what games (and what rules!) are played within your classroom.

Getting to know students

As a student, my peers scared me. Either they weren't apart of my clique, or they just didn't care about grades. I was fearful of group assignments, having to rely on mostly strangers to ensure an adequate grade. With the fear of grades out of the equation, I've found that students aren't even remotely scary. They're fascinating. You can actually get to know and understand them now that you don't have your own thesis to write. Maybe that's just me.

Forming inside jokes with your class

Sometimes class can be tense, boring, or just too quiet sometimes. A good, appropriate joke at the right time can really raise morale and lighten the mood. With each year bringing new students, I'm sure any teacher can accumulate a boatload of funny, interesting, strange, what have you, stories and jokes. Each inside joke or story would contain within it the memory of each class. I think exchanging jokes and stories is a great way to break the ice between students, and can really help wake people up without making them do laps around the room. Really, it's flawless, providing you can keep everyone on track, that is!

Controlling the music

From the radio, to the aux cord, to whatever Pandora station your heart fancies, we all love being in control of whatever music is playing. We love seeing others enjoy it, but more than anything, we love listening to it. Even know, two years shy of my degree, I'm coming up with an appropriate classroom playlist. Thus far, it is full of Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4 sound tracks, with a hodgepodge of oldies and classic rock thrown in there. Whether they love it or hate it I know at least one person will thoroughly enjoy it.