This year I have an intern teacher in my classroom throughout the year. It is similar to a medical residency, where he shadows me and then begins to take over more and more of the teaching work. I thoroughly enjoy talking about teaching, but the real benefits are more tangible.

1. I can go to the bathroom when I need to. You can never leave a classroom full of students unsupervised, thus bathroom breaks are rare.

2. I can manage my grading duties. With almost 140 students, and the goal of preparing students as true critical thinkers, I assign writing assignments. I then have to grade those pieces of writing. 4/5 of the my classes are the same, thus I have 105 identical essays to grade. Have you ever tried to read the same news item, written by different journalists, 100+ times – it is draining in an unimaginable way.

3. I can have adult conversations. I adore the time of adolescence. But after a while, a teacher can feel like a cattle wrangler. And being able to chat about news events or even just feelings of being tired, is a quick relief.

4. There is an extra set of eyes observing the quirky, odd, strange behavior of the adolescence. A teacher never really knows what strange ideas will come to fruition in the mind of a 14 year old. Knowing that you are the not the only one who will have to address the farting, texting, gossiping, or just plain oddities, is a relief.

I adore teaching, but there are some parts of the job that would be seen as unbearable or even inhumane to most other adults.