I did not plan to not have a post ready for today. But my preparation work for school yesterday night took, of course, way more time than I had anticipated, even if most of the material was already written and it only needed a few tweaks.
And while I was looking for the right image, playing around with the layout of my course materials, examining ways to share content with my students, I felt wat I have always felt doing all of this: I am born for this job.
As long as I can start with a relatively clean slate, and not have to work through mountains of procrastinated tasks like grading of giving extensive feedback… there is nothing in this world I’d rather do for a living than this. I like the preparation work, that’s my need for creativity and in-depth study of a subject that comes along. The challenge of coming up with new ways or just shaving the rough edges to create a tried-and-true lesson plan – it works for me.
Sometimes the teaching itself is disappointing, but then again: it answers to other parts of my personality. The classroom is my natural habitat. I can be nervous in front of new groups, or groups that I have a difficult relationship with, but once I have the opportunity to pass on what I absolutely want to pass on – nothing can stop me. I love how good questions challenge me. I love how funny situations create an atmosphere of trust and cosiness. I love how sometimes I can convince one of them to just sit it out and discover ancient texts for what they really are. I love the discussions about subjects I don’t know nearly enough about and how they encourage me to keep my eyes and hearts open.
I can honestly say: most of the times, I thrive as a teacher because of my students. And while I’m a bit sad that my parental leave is over, I know for sure that I will love going back to that other place where I belong: in front of a class.
Songs of Home 