The following is from a message I wrote two years ago to my cousin, an education major, who asked me what I like most about teaching.  At the time, I was teaching introductory physics at a community college.

What do I like most about teaching? Oh boy.

My students look to me as an authority figure on the subject matter. Many of them have never seen this material before, so for them it is difficult. They depend on me to clarify things that aren’t clear in the textbook and to point out their errors in their reasoning to keep them on the right track.

I felt a little odd starting out, because I had only taught as a teaching assistant before. Now I have nearly complete autonomy. I control everything about the class including what the class does and does not cover. But, I quickly got used to that.

Teaching college kids is different from teaching high school kids. High school kids are essentially forced to go to school. My college kids are in class because they want to be there, and they are paying me to teach them. I am trying to give them their money’s worth.

Some students obviously don’t give a darn. They don’t do the homework. They don’t study. They don’t do any of the work necessary to learn the material. (I never realized this when I was a student, but it is blatantly obvious to the teacher who does and doesn’t study.) There’s nothing I can do about that, so I refuse to let that bother me.

Some students are doing great. Some of them are picking up the material quickly. And others had learned the material previously, and only needed an easy general science course. There isn’t much I can do for them either.

There is a small core of students who regularly meet with me. They work hard, but have trouble learning the course material. They may have trouble with the math. They may have trouble because some of the concepts we are learning go against their everyday experiences. But they ask intelligent questions. And they come to see me regularly, whenever I am available to offer my help. My favorite part about teaching so far is working, during my office hours, with this small group of students. They will never come anywhere close to my understanding of physics. But it is obvious to me that they are trying their best. And I try to give every reasonable opportunity I can to help them learn it.