The Joy of Teaching

There is something that happens to me when I walk into the classroom. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about it.

During those hours, I am fully present.

There may be all sorts of things going on outside. I may have a hundred things to do, a problem to solve, or something on my mind.

But when I walk into the classroom, my attention is there.

With my students.

With what we are doing.

With what is happening in that moment.

A few days ago, while listening to Nazareth Castellanos talk about attention and enjoyment, something she said stayed with me.

She explained that we experience an activity differently depending on where our attention is.

And I thought: of course.

Maybe that has a lot to do with enjoying teaching.

And that got me thinking about other teachers, like those teaching in secondary school, who often have to move from one class to another, from one group to another, from one classroom to another.

And I thought about a teacher who is in one class but is already thinking about the next one.

In a little while I have to go to the other class.

Then I have to do this.

Then that.

And I wondered:

How much can we really enjoy what is happening in that class when our minds are already on what comes next?

So often, we have so much on our minds that it’s hard to be fully present.

And I also thought about something I observed with a colleague a few days ago.

She was dealing with a situation involving her children. Something that was worrying her and needed her attention.

And while she was thinking about that, a behaviour issue came up in her class.

She wasn't able to fully focus on what was happening because, at that moment, part of her attention was somewhere else.

And not because she didn't care about what was happening in the class.

Nor because she didn't want to be there.

Simply because sometimes things happen to us.

We have worries.

We have problems.

We have things to deal with.

And even when our body is in the classroom, our mind can be somewhere else entirely.

And then I thought that maybe this also has a lot to do with enjoying what we do.

Because in order to enjoy something, we first have to be there to experience it.

And then I thought about what happens in my own classes.

About those hours in class that often seem to fly by.

I realised that one of the things I enjoy most about teaching is simply being there.

Being with my students.

Listening to what they say.

Seeing what they come up with.

Following a conversation that wasn't planned.

Laughing.

Changing an activity because something more interesting came up.

Paying attention to what is happening and responding to it.

During those hours, my mind is not usually thinking about what comes next.

I'm there.

And maybe that's why I enjoy it so much.

Maybe enjoying what we do depends not only on what we are doing, but on whether we are truly there for it.