Kelly+Williams,+Noyce+Fellow


 * Kelly Williams, General Science**
 * Steger 6th Grade Center**
 * Contact Information:**
 * williams.kelly@wgmail.org**

//**Why did you become a teacher? Why do you continue to teach?**// Why I teach… I teach because middle school stinks. There is never another time in your life that you will feel that clumsy, that alienated, that strange. Do you remember it? Your body completely rebels on you at about 10. Your hair is weird. Your skin is a mess. Your clothes fit for about 5 minutes before your bony ankles become exposed. Your legs and feet, which have worked perfectly well for several years now, suddenly betray you, tripping over everything and nothing at all. Everyone is staring at you, but no one will listen to you. Ahh, middle school. I teach because I remember it vividly and because a couple of outstanding and caring teachers noticed me. I never would have made it through without Ms. Boeger and Ms. March. I teach because I want to make it easier. I want to take those scared little kids (and they really are scared, no matter what front they put on) and help them use their natural curiosity to become learners and thinkers.

Why I stay… I stay because every day is an adventure. There is one thing that all teachers eventually come to understand: You will never finish. You can work 20 hours a day, every day, and never even get close to being “done.” At one point in my career, this seemed very daunting. I kept waiting for it to get easier. It never did. Don’t get me wrong; some parts of my job are not as difficult as they were in my first three to five years. However, every time you get a good handle on some aspect of this job, something else will move in to take up the space. What keeps “seasoned” teachers going is the passion they have for it. When you sift through all of the committees, adoptions, programs, clubs, papers, key phrases, and red tape, you get down to the only thing that really matters: the kids. I stay because of the kids. I stay because I never know what to expect. I stay because every lesson that I teach, I know I will teach better the next year. I stay because I love this job.