The first year like many teachers was the hardest, but having this mentality that I can never measure up didn't help.  To give you an example, one day while teaching a class on how to convert traditional math to binary math for computers I was interrupted by another teacher.  The students were having a hard time with the subject, so another teacher decided to take matters in their own hands and decided to "help" me out, though they ignored my entire course outline and taught the subject at a different level so this rendered my curriculum plan in vain.  This is a normal thing with some teachers when you ask them, but not having asked and instead of helping me to understand it better with no students around, I became one of the students.  I had no clue how to help out with this subject when it resurfaced so I lost trust with the students that I would have to face daily.

I have learned that the teaching profession can be very competitive either for personal gain in the facility or to gain popularity with students.  I have sought to remove my tag by becoming actively involved where only full time staff participated and becoming available to administration for my own questions or theirs.  When it comes down to if I am a real teacher or not,  I simply do not concentrate on the actual question but explain about the programs the R.O.P program has and what classes I instruct in detail as to explain the wonderful world of vocational education.  I usually get ask now where they can sign up!