Inspiration for Teachers

Aug 21st, 2010 | By Brandi Jordan | 16 comments | Category: Teacher Tips & Resources

For those who are called to teach, teaching is not merely a job that provides a paycheck. It is passion. It is a part of who you are and even when you are not in the classroom, you are still a teacher. Your true joy rests not in material things, but in those ah-ha moments when you help a child find understanding. While you could do without budget cuts and larger class sizes, you accept them for what they are and enter the classroom each day with a sense of purpose and expectancy. You are a facilitator, a mentor, a friend – you are a teacher.

As the school year begins, be inspired and mindful of the amazing potential within you for nurturing change in the lives of your students. When the budget cuts and district troubles begin to take their toll, step back, regroup and return with renewed dedication. Sometimes all it takes to come back to a point of hope is a simple saying or words of inspiration. We compiled some inspirational quotes just for you, so when those moments of discouragement happen this school year, you can reach out and find comfort in the words of others. Have a really good school year and know that we will be with you every step of the way.

In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day’s work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years. ~Jacques Barzun

It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge. ~Albert Einstein

A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations.~Patricia Neal

Getting things done is not always what is most important.There is value in allowing others to learn, even if the task is not accomplished as quickly, efficiently or effectively. ~R.D. Clyde

Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers. ~Josef Albers

The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be ignited. ~Plutarch

A teacher affects eternity;he can never tell where his influence stops. ~Henry B. Adams

I am not a teacher, but an awakener. ~Robert Frost

Nine-tenths of education is encouragement. ~Anatole France

Finish every day and be done with it.You have done what you could. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Do you have a favorite quote that gets you through the day or school year?

Share it with us below!

Tags: inspiration, quotes, teaching

16 Comments Leave A Comment

Karla

Commented On August 21st, 2010 10:08 am

We have adopted the time old classic this year of the “Golden Rule.” Treat people the way you would like to be treated!.. We should all remember that.
Amanda

Commented On August 21st, 2010 10:10 am

I see teaching and learning as adventures, so for me, this quote is particularly inspiring – “Adventure isn’t hanging on a rope off the side of a mountain. Adventure is an attitude that we must apply to the day to day obstacles of life – Facing new challenges, seizing new opportunities, testing our resources against the unknown and in the process, Discovering our own unique potentional.” John Amatt
Laura H

Commented On August 21st, 2010 10:17 am

Thanks for such wonderful quotes. What helps me some days is to remember that I’ve done my best, and when it doesn’t feel like a success that I get a new try tomorrow.
Annette Amaya

Commented On August 21st, 2010 10:27 am

Wow, I am actually torn because I’m influenced by two quotes..”Teaching is not a profession; it’s a passion” Unknown and “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” Henry Adams.
I truly enjoyed this Inspirational article very much! It validates everything I feel as a teacher and what I tell my friends all the time. I love my job as a Pre-K teacher because I am sculpting children to be the best they can, focusing on their strong attributes and expanding it into everything they do.
For me teaching IS a passion. I don’t get paid much and I suffer from classroom budget cuts, but this doesn’t stop me from bring my students into a classroom full of adventures in learning where creativity and imagination is our guide. As an adult I remember those teachers who opened themselves to us, not only through their knowledge, but their love for what they do and love for us. As a teacher I realize the reason who I am is because of the influences of amazing teachers. It my turn now! I hope I can be as successful and influential as my teachers were.
Tangenia Jones

Commented On August 21st, 2010 10:43 am

A teacher affects eternity;he can never tell where his influence stops. ~Henry B. Adams
I like this quote, because you really never know how you are influencing your students each day.
Kim

Commented On August 21st, 2010 10:55 am

Nine-tenths of education is encouragement. ~Anatole France

How wonderful to be reminded that we are encouragers in the learning process! Students should be discovering content through problem solving, and we are there as their guides.
jenny gorrell

Commented On August 21st, 2010 11:01 am

I really didn’t have a favorite quote. But these were all very inspiratiion as I head into a new year of teaching with crazy nerves!! Thabks fellow teachers!!
nichole

Commented On August 21st, 2010 11:05 am

I love all of these quotes. After 15 years of teaching, I KNOW it is my passion, not just the paycheck. (Goodness knows that the paycheck is not all that much anyway.) The first week of school is now complete and I am looking forward to the rest of the year. I have a group of students who are (mostly) excited to learn new things and I am just the person to teach them.
Ronni

Commented On August 21st, 2010 11:28 am

What gets me through the day is not a quote, but the gems of wisdom my students give me. It’s amazing the effect of what a kindergartener says can have on you!
Becky Myerly

Commented On August 21st, 2010 11:30 am

My challenge for this first year of teaching comes from a quote by Howard Seeman: Don’t try to be a teacher. Be yourself while you teach.
Candace

Commented On August 21st, 2010 11:54 am

“Finish everyday and be done with it.” I needed to hear those words, because yesterday was the end to a very long and stressful week. A week filled with an extra long to do list that kept getting longer as I checked things off. I found myself at 4pm sitting on the floor of my classroom ready to cry.
Angie B

Commented On August 21st, 2010 12:47 pm

Times are tough everywhere. What I love about this profession is that the kids are so simple at my school. Anything they receive they truly appreciate. It’s not about what I buy but what I give to them as a guide in life. Money comes and goes but memories are forever! We are known for our creativity and this year I hope to explore more than ever before! Kudos to all the teachers beginning a new year with a new start and readiness! Here is another favorite quote I truly believe in and would like to share. “Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
julie

Commented On August 21st, 2010 1:19 pm

“Teaching kids to count is fine, but teaching them what counts is best.” – Bob Talbert
Amy Dittman

Commented On August 21st, 2010 2:01 pm

“You never know what that woman is going to do!”

A parent told me that I was the topic of conversation at their dinner table one evening and their middle son stood up and informed the family about me with that quote. It made me feel terrific. That is exactly what I want my students (and thier parents) to think.
Cara F

Commented On August 21st, 2010 9:40 pm

Wonderful article. No one can go into teaching for the money but only for the love of learning and see that ignite in your students. Plesae post a quote each day — they are so inspirational.
Kristina

Commented On August 22nd, 2010 8:59 am

I don’t know the exact quote or who it was from but it says something along the lines of–Remember parents are sending us the best children they have, they aren’t keeping the good ones at home to punish us. Sometimes I have to remember this when days don’t go as smoothly as I’d like.