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It is often said that the three most important things about real estate are "location, location, location!" In teaching, those three most important things are "patience, patience, patience!" It is easy for all of us to forget what it was like to be a kid in school. The best teachers remember because they approach their jobs with patience.

Patience is important for many reasons. First of all, teaching can be like watching a flower bloom. You can't make kids learn any more than you can make that flower bud open. All you can do is make the conditions right to encourage growth and be patient. That growth will happen, and at times it is even more rewarding when you consider the struggle and the time invested.

Every parent thinks the world revolves around his or her child, it's only natural. Patience is essential when dealing with parents. Whether they visit your classroom to vent frustrations or fish for compliments, snap judgments when dealing with parents are always a bad idea. I like to think of parents as customers and the customer is sometimes right, but always worth listening to.

I was a good student in grade school and learning came naturally to me. I was a great fit for the school environment. Most kids are not. I was lucky enough to learn from a teacher of the year in a city where I've taught, and he confided in me that a major reason for his success was that he was a "knucklehead" (his words) when he was a kid. He had immense patience when it came to dealing with troubled, distracted, or resistant students because he could identify with them.

Teaching is not so simple as real estate of course, so there are a few more characteristics a prospective teacher should have. A thirst for knowledge is one of them. Teachers can get caught up in the myth that they have all the answers. If you allow yourself to learn from and with your students you will enjoy your job more and be a more effective teacher. Explore your interests and theirs, try something new, take responsible risks; it will pay off in classroom culture as well as learning.

Teachers should definitely be organized, flexible, and hard working. Most people who are not will be weeded out of the teaching field rather quickly, if they even make it to the classroom in the first place. If these are not your strong points, however, you can learn them quickly from your experienced colleagues as long as you are willing to work with veteran teachers.

Something essential that we don't often discuss in the field of education is a real love for working with children. Before my first day in the classroom this was the major question in my mind: "Do I really want to work with 8-year-olds?" I was lucky that I quickly fell head over heals for my kids. The greatest joy of my job is discovering the element within each child that makes them lovable and teachable. It doesn't have to happen overnight, but if you cannot tap feelings of strong concern for your students after giving it ample time, you probably should consider a new career.

In conclusion, don't get caught up in concerns over whether you are fun enough, or strict enough, or friendly enough or studious enough. Just make sure you are patient, thirsty for learning (your own and that of your students), and capable of loving the best thing about your job-namely, working with children.

Learn more about this author, Nathan Munro.
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