{"id":1415,"date":"2019-10-25T17:59:22","date_gmt":"2019-10-25T17:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/?p=1415"},"modified":"2019-10-25T17:59:22","modified_gmt":"2019-10-25T17:59:22","slug":"what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/","title":{"rendered":"What it Takes to be a Teacher"},"content":{"rendered":"

A blog post from SOLES\u00a0MEd in TESOL, Literacy, and Culture<\/a> Ambassador Susan Zyphur<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a teacher. It\u2019s what I do, and it\u2019s who I am. The old joke is that \u201cthose who can\u2019t do, teach,\u201d but those of us who teach know that teaching requires every ounce of effort and ability that a person has, and then some. You can\u2019t be a good teacher and not be constantly working to improve yourself and your practice. To that end, I\u2019m also a student – a student not just of education, but also of life, of people, and of myself. More specifically, I\u2019m a USD SOLES student, and that distinction has made all the difference in my education. As the fall semester gets into full swing, I have to admit that my third semester is proving to be much more challenging than the first two. My first year in my program was demanding on personal and emotional levels as I began to see who I was and who I could be, and then to build the skills that I needed in order to bridge the two. Now my Capstone project, once a distant and somewhat theoretical event, has become a very real and somewhat terrifying reality looming dark and heavy on the horizon. I\u2019m so very grateful to have the support of the USD SOLES faculty and staff, not to mention my fellow students, as we all embark on this part of our journey together.<\/p>\n

\"Susan<\/p>\n

When I applied to the SOLES M.Ed. in TESOL, Literacy, and Culture in early 2018, I knew that a culminating project would be a requirement for completing a graduate degree. I was ready and willing, and I still am. But I had no idea at the time just how much I would change as a result of this program – not just as an educator, but as a person as well. It\u2019s been an interesting journey, to say the least. I\u2019ve learned a great deal about myself and others; some of it I\u2019ve liked, and some of it I haven\u2019t. And yet, even the unpleasant has been a gift, as awareness brings with it the opportunity for change. The focus on cultural sensitivity and social justice at USD has been a much needed wake-up call, and has opened my eyes to ways of improving myself and my teaching practice that I hadn\u2019t even known existed. I\u2019ve also discovered a passion for social change that I didn\u2019t know I had, and it\u2019s because the changes that I want to make start with myself.<\/p>\n

\"Susan<\/p>\n

This passion became the driving force behind my thesis topic, which comes more clearly into focus with each passing week. I\u2019ve noticed, however, that I can easily get sidetracked by the minutiae and lose sight of the bigger picture by focusing too much on the details. And there are so many<\/em> details! One of the great things about being at SOLES, however, is that the entire school is committed to helping students keep their focus on the end goal: A more compassionate and more just world in which education is a tool for students to reach their full human potential. The SOLES team doesn\u2019t just talk the talk, either. Time and again I\u2019ve experienced the true caring and commitment that all of the professors and members of staff have for me and my success. It\u2019s been both an inspiration and a call to action.<\/p>\n

Even though I\u2019m having to work very hard, especially this semester, and despite how much I worry about deadlines, student loans, completing my practicum hours, etc., I wouldn\u2019t change a thing. I\u2019ve gained so much through my time at USD, and I\u2019m a better teacher and a better person for it. I often say that the best decision I ever made was the decision to become a teacher. The second best was the decision to earn my M.Ed. from SOLES.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A blog post from SOLES\u00a0MEd in TESOL, Literacy, and Culture Ambassador Susan Zyphur I\u2019m a teacher. It\u2019s what I do, and it\u2019s who I am. The old joke is that \u201cthose who can\u2019t do, teach,\u201d but those of us who Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":718,"featured_media":1416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44170,89902,51871,106421,55073,62805,45850,63202],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-admissions-and-outreach","category-advice-words-of-wisdom","category-graduate-student-blogs","category-graduating","category-learning-teaching","category-soles-ambassadors","category-student-perspective","category-tesol"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat it Takes to be a Teacher - SOLES Admissions and Outreach<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What it Takes to be a Teacher - SOLES Admissions and Outreach\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A blog post from SOLES\u00a0MEd in TESOL, Literacy, and Culture Ambassador Susan Zyphur I\u2019m a teacher. It\u2019s what I do, and it\u2019s who I am. The old joke is that \u201cthose who can\u2019t do, teach,\u201d but those of us who Continue reading →\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SOLES Admissions and Outreach\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-25T17:59:22+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/files\/2019\/10\/20191005_160145.jpg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3264\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2448\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"solesadmissions\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"solesadmissions\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"solesadmissions\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/#\/schema\/person\/278c81a8093df8c05fcb659fb4096fc7\"},\"headline\":\"What it Takes to be a Teacher\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-25T17:59:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/\"},\"wordCount\":682,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/files\/2019\/10\/20191005_160145.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Admissions and Outreach\",\"Advice & Words of Wisdom\",\"Graduate Student Blogs\",\"Graduating\",\"Learning & Teaching\",\"SOLES Ambassadors\",\"Student Perspective\",\"TESOL\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/\",\"name\":\"What it Takes to be a Teacher - SOLES Admissions and Outreach\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/files\/2019\/10\/20191005_160145.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-25T17:59:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/#\/schema\/person\/278c81a8093df8c05fcb659fb4096fc7\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/files\/2019\/10\/20191005_160145.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/files\/2019\/10\/20191005_160145.jpg\",\"width\":3264,\"height\":2448,\"caption\":\"Susan at the CATESOL conference\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What it Takes to be a Teacher\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/\",\"name\":\"SOLES Admissions and Outreach\",\"description\":\" Get to know the SOLES community, just a little bit better\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/#\/schema\/person\/278c81a8093df8c05fcb659fb4096fc7\",\"name\":\"solesadmissions\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"\/\/www.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ad5360c6719a8dd79b4e7feccfb8414?s=96&r=g&d=mm\",\"url\":\"\/\/www.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ad5360c6719a8dd79b4e7feccfb8414?s=96&r=g&d=mm\",\"contentUrl\":\"\/\/www.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ad5360c6719a8dd79b4e7feccfb8414?s=96&r=g&d=mm\",\"caption\":\"solesadmissions\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/author\/solesadmissions\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What it Takes to be a Teacher - SOLES Admissions and Outreach","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What it Takes to be a Teacher - SOLES Admissions and Outreach","og_description":"A blog post from SOLES\u00a0MEd in TESOL, Literacy, and Culture Ambassador Susan Zyphur I\u2019m a teacher. It\u2019s what I do, and it\u2019s who I am. The old joke is that \u201cthose who can\u2019t do, teach,\u201d but those of us who Continue reading →","og_url":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/","og_site_name":"SOLES Admissions and Outreach","article_published_time":"2019-10-25T17:59:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":3264,"height":2448,"url":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/files\/2019\/10\/20191005_160145.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"solesadmissions","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"solesadmissions","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/"},"author":{"name":"solesadmissions","@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/#\/schema\/person\/278c81a8093df8c05fcb659fb4096fc7"},"headline":"What it Takes to be a Teacher","datePublished":"2019-10-25T17:59:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/"},"wordCount":682,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/files\/2019\/10\/20191005_160145.jpg","articleSection":["Admissions and Outreach","Advice & Words of Wisdom","Graduate Student Blogs","Graduating","Learning & Teaching","SOLES Ambassadors","Student Perspective","TESOL"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/","url":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/","name":"What it Takes to be a Teacher - SOLES Admissions and Outreach","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/files\/2019\/10\/20191005_160145.jpg","datePublished":"2019-10-25T17:59:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/#\/schema\/person\/278c81a8093df8c05fcb659fb4096fc7"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/files\/2019\/10\/20191005_160145.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/files\/2019\/10\/20191005_160145.jpg","width":3264,"height":2448,"caption":"Susan at the CATESOL conference"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/2019\/10\/25\/what-it-takes-to-be-a-teacher\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What it Takes to be a Teacher"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/","name":"SOLES Admissions and Outreach","description":" Get to know the SOLES community, just a little bit better","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/#\/schema\/person\/278c81a8093df8c05fcb659fb4096fc7","name":"solesadmissions","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"\/\/www.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ad5360c6719a8dd79b4e7feccfb8414?s=96&r=g&d=mm","url":"\/\/www.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ad5360c6719a8dd79b4e7feccfb8414?s=96&r=g&d=mm","contentUrl":"\/\/www.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ad5360c6719a8dd79b4e7feccfb8414?s=96&r=g&d=mm","caption":"solesadmissions"},"url":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/author\/solesadmissions\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/718"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1415"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1421,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1415\/revisions\/1421"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.sandiego.edu\/solesadmissions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}