Be the best and "raise" the best

I would say, for the most part, I agree with the statement "In a completely rational society, the best of us would be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization along from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and highest responsibility anyone could have." My husband and I were just talking the other night about how much a responsibility teachers have to help mold generations. We were discussing the things our teachers were allowed to do, versus the restrictions on teachers now-a-days, and how we understand when our parents start stories with "back in my day..." When you really think about it, the vast majority of our students have limited access to adults: their parents and their teachers. Not only are we responsible for doing our job and teaching them the subject matter assigned, but we are also an example of how human beings should act. Think about it, if little Bobby only hears me, his teacher, an adult he spends several hours with per week, constantly complain about my job, gripe about low pay, use the phrase "that's not my responsibility", etc., then little Bobby will think that is how you are expected to act as an adult. This is especially true if his parents or other family members act the same way. It breaks my heart when I hear teachers counting down the days until the next break or until retirement. I firmly believe that if you don't love what you do, do something else. I have made my husband promise me that as soon as I dread coming to school and spending time educating these kids, that he better give me a good shaking and tell me to go do something else. I feel that I was selected for this job because I was among the best at what I do, and all teachers should be held to that same standard.