I know people who would do just about anything to get a ticket to the Olympic Games. But there’s no need for overseas travel or sky-high prices, you can watch Olympic-level feats just by visiting a busy teacher’s classroom. Here are ten ways teachers are like Olympic athletes:
1. We keep the same hours.
Olympic athletes get up at 4 a.m. to train. Guess who’s also up, planning lessons and grading papers?
2. Every day we perform miracles.
People marvel at what we accomplish—really!
3. We’re used to being judged.
Everyone gives us a score. Parents, administrators, students (middle schoolers are notoriously tough).
4. We often perform well despite the circumstances.
A new venue doesn’t faze us. When our principal switches our classroom at the last minute, we don’t even blink.
5. Sometimes it feels like things are out of control.
1 day = 7 hours of teaching + 1 hour faculty meeting + 3 hours of parent-teacher conferences + 34597239 hours of graduate school homework. But it’s cool. We got this.
6. We’ve got stamina.
The last leg of the biathalon is exactly like trying to teach 30 kids in April. True story.
7. Teamwork makes the dream work.
Just like curlers or hockey players, we work together with our teaching teammates to excel every day.
8. It’s not always pretty, but we make it to the finish line.
It’s the end result that counts, after all.
9. All of our hard work pays off in the end.
You think this happens without years of practice?!
10. We all deserve medals.
We might not get to stand on podiums and hear our national anthem, but teachers are champions!
