50 things that make teaching great: 1) No two days are the same 2) You’ll laugh every day 3) You’ll meet amazing people 4) The children will astound you 5) When the penny drops for a child 6) Holidays 7) Reflection on things is always worthwhile 8) You’ll get some great stories to tell at dinner parties 9) You’ll learn all sorts of useful life hacks 10) You get to stay ‘down with the kids’ 11) You find more ways to embarrass your own children 12) You find strength you didn’t know you had 13) You are always improving 14) There is always a new skill to tackle 15) Working in a team 16) You make a difference 17) You earn the trust of those you teach 18) Every lesson might go a different way 19) You can’t bank on anything going to plan 20) Positive feedback is great 21) The kids teach you something every day 22) Presents at the end of term 23) That moment when you know you’ve had a breakthrough with a child for whatever reason 24) When you know you’ve protected someone 25) When you know you’ve improved someone’s life chances 26) When people say thank you 27) Biscuits in the staffroom 28) When staff meeting gets cancelled 29) When your year group partner comes in for a chat 30) When a kid aces an assessment 31) The pride you feel for all of them at the end of the year 32) When someone tells you you did a good job. 33) When you catch the another teachers eye across the hall 34) When a kid tells you you’re alright, for a teacher 35) PPA 36) Staff nights out 37) Nailing feedback and seeing the improvement 38) Helping other people get better 39) Break duty in summer 40) Playing rounders 41) Showing off your class/school on open morning 42) Job security 43) TAs 44) Teaching them knowledge they’ll carry forever 45) Putting on a production, at least when it’s finished 46) Being trusted 47) The opportunity to lead others 48) Tangents in lessons making for great learning 49) Knowing, deep down, it’s worth it 50) You’d rather do nothing else. I know not everyone will get all 50, all of time, but I bet there is a good chunk you’ll nod along with!