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Why, then, do I teach?
这样说来，我为什么还要教书呢？
I teach because I like the pace of the academic calendar. June, July, and August offer an opportunity for reflection, research and writing.
我教书，是因为我喜爱校历的步调。6月、7月和8月提供了一个供思考、研究和创作的机会。
I teach because teaching is a profession built on change. When the material is the same, I change — and, more important, my students change.
我教书，是因为教学是建立在“变”这一基础上的职业。教材还是原来的教材，但我自身却变了-更重要的是，我的学生变了。
I teach because I like the freedom to make my own mistakes, to learn my own lessons, to stimulate myself and my students. As a teacher, I'm my own boss. If I want my freshmen to learn to write by creating their own textbook, who is to say I can' t? Such courses may be huge failures, but we can all learn from failures.
我教书，是因为我喜欢有让自己犯错误的自由，有让自己吸取教训的自由，有激励自己和激励学生的自由。作为教师，我可以自行做主。如果我想要求一年级学生通过自行编写课本的办法来学习写作，谁能说我不可以那样做呢？这样的课程也许会彻底失败，但我们都可以从失败的尝试中获得教益。
I teach because I like to ask questions that students must struggle to answer. The world is full of right answers to bad questions. While teaching, I sometimes find good questions.
我教书，是因为我喜欢向学生提出必须绞尽脑汁才能回答的问题。我们这个世界有无穷无尽的正确答案来对付拙劣的问题。何况我在教学过程中有时也会想到一些出色的问题。
I teach because I enjoy finding ways of getting myself and my students out of the ivory tower and into the real world. I once taught a course called “Self-Reliance in a Technological Society.” My 15 students read Emerson, Thoreau, and Huxley. They kept diaries. They wrote term papers.
我教书，是因为我喜欢想方设法使自己和我的学生从象牙塔里走出来，步入现实世界。我曾经开过一门叫做“在工业技术社会里如何自力更生”的课程。我教的15位学生读了爱默生、梭洛和赫胥黎的作品，记了日记，还写了学期论文。
But we also set up a corporation, borrowed money, purchased a run-down house and practiced self-reliance by renovating it. At the end of the semester, we sold the house, repaid our loan, paid our taxes, and distributed the profits among the group.
但除此而外，我们还办起一个公司，借钱买下一所破旧的房屋，通过对这一建筑物的整修翻新，我们就自力更生这一课题进行了一次实践活动。在期末我们把房子卖掉，还清贷款，缴了税，余下的收益分给了参加实践的学生。
So teaching gives me pace, and variety, and challenge, and the opportunity to keep on learning.
所以说，教学使我的工作进程有了规律，使我的生活变得丰富多彩，教学向我提出了挑战，也给了我不断学习的机会。
