Teacher Motivation 5 - Availability

Teaching is not a job. It's a profession. People do not teach for a living; they are teachers. Forget the nine - to - five schedule; it doesn't exist. The most important moments in teaching may come outside the structured class time. The question after class, the early morning " bull session," the phone call at home - there are opportunities to do what you do best - teach.
   But those things can't happen if you are not available. Learning happens best when it relates to life. That's why those life moments are so important. A whole semester's content about sociology may be forgotten, but that class trip to an ethnic neighbourhood in the inner city will probably remain in the minds of your students forever.
    You don't have to be a buddy, but you can be a friend.Your speech, mannerisms, or body language can convey that opennes to friendship. Certainly you must have an accessibility policy that is fair and reasonable, but those two or three extra minutes after the class session might just be filled with more personal influence than two or three years of structured classroom time.