To me, what it means to be a STEM teacher has changed since I started teaching. I used to think that being a STEM teacher meant valuing the scientific process, providing opportunities for creativity in unlikely places, and raising the next generation of problem solvers (to name a few). I still believe all of those aspects of STEM teaching to be true, but now I feel that I have a different understanding of the "teacher" part.
And so, a bit of what it means to be to be a teacher: Having compassion for teenagers, because I remember how hard life felt when I was 13. Having grace for myself when I show up at my best to some classes and not at my best to others. Calling parents and hearing that one of their students' parents isn't around, or they're bullied on the bus, or they're moving to a new state and that's making their child behave differently. Coming in to school every day when you really really really really really don't want to. Most importantly, I think that being a teacher means trying your best (sometimes succeeding, sometimes not), to let every day be a new day and a fresh start (for the students and for me!).
I hope that sometime soon I'll have a better grasp on the "teacher" part and can refocuses my efforts back onto the science, because that's why I came into this career in the first place! I got into teaching for the science, but now I'm realizing that I'll stay in teaching for the students.