Perhaps, it is because I am the son of an engineer or for some other reason
I like to think of myself as a builder, but I enjoy constructing things with students
as I inhabit the space of my classroom daily.
Lately, I have been pondering this question as I have been
trying to define what it is I enjoy about my job. Often times, I feel as if I get lost in the
day to day mundane tasks of school life. There are parts of my job that I do not enjoy
as much as others. I really don’t like
doing the boring paperwork that appears in various forms and I often have to
force myself to do it because I know it is required. I know that overall it serves a purpose so I do
it, but I do not enjoy doing it.
I think the thing I enjoy most about my job is the creative
process that I get to engage in on a regular basis. When we are making lessons or coming up with
a new project I find that is when I have the most joy. Don’t get me wrong, I love working with
students and getting to know them as people in order to help them grow, but
there is part of me that likes the process of creating more. I am more of an introverted person who
becomes drained by the interacts with all the people I work with all day, so I
enjoy working with people but am
exhausted when I am done. I also know that
not every job is like this where I get to make new things on a regular basis and
it is a part of my job that I really enjoy.
Perhaps, it is because I am the son of an engineer or for some other reason
I like to think of myself as a builder, but I enjoy constructing things with students as
I inhabit the space of my classroom daily.
I
have always been able to make my lessons better by really asking myself what went wrong and how
can I make it better. And, that lets me
grow as a person and feel like I am moving forward, which brings me
happiness.
I think this is part of the job that is really difficult
because you are making new things over and over to make them better, but it is
the most rewarding part of working in a school.
This process never really ends, due to the fact people or environments
change, or we are just trying to get better.
I have never become bored because I am always tweaking or making my
lessons better. I also love to watch how
a lesson comes out and improve it for the next group. There have been some lessons that have been
really bad when I totally missed the mark, usually when I have been shifted
into a different group of learners. I
have always been able to make my lessons better by really asking myself what went wrong and how
can I make it better. And, that lets me
grow as a person and feel like I am moving forward, which brings me
happiness.
There is something rewarding of actually using the lessons
you create as well and sharing them with a class of students as well. I have created lessons in the past for other
purposes, such as curriculum or classes I have taken and I was always
disappointed that I didn’t really get to use them. I have since looked at some of my older
lessons I created while an undergrad and they are seriously lacking in a lot of
areas, but I almost wonder if they would be better if I had an audience to use
it on? Is it the creation of the lesson
that makes the day or is it the interactions with students that makes it? For me it is a combination of both. I find that I also feel this way about soccer
when I am coaching. My schooling is much
more rewarding if I can take the thing I have learned applies it to working
with other people and see how it goes. I
also find that I remember the strategy more if I do it this way as well.
Do you enjoy building as well? What is your favorite thing about teaching?
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