A friend once told me about my job, “It’s not rocket science.” (It was her well-intentioned way of telling me not to worry so much.) And she was, of course, right. I’m not an oncologist or a nuclear physicist or even the CFO of a major corporation. I’m “just” an English teacher; my work isn’t daily changing the world. Last year I really began to buy into that belief because it felt easy. So I was a bit more complacent, more lackadaisical. I didn’t engage as much with my students or my curriculum; risks became unnecessary because my job didn’t really matter that much. I became that which I abhor in my students: apathetic. In other words, a year ago I lost my mojo. Perhaps it was the eight-year itch. Maybe it was a crazy hormonal imbalance. Possibly I was still adjusting to life as a full-time working mom. For whatever reason, I wasn’t the teacher I wanted to be, the teacher I knew I could be. I certainly wasn’t living up to the title of this blog. It was more like Teach Boring. This year is different, though. I checked the complacency at the door when I returned this fall. After all, I needed to model drive and ambition for my students. This year I come to work most days with a fever to interact with my students. I am making a conscious effort to get students out of their seats at least once a day. New strategies, new research, new assessments. I can’t put my finger on the magic formula, but I’m back to being the Mrs. Witt I once remembered. I’m doing things here that I’ve never done before. Last Friday as an exit ticket in English 2, I had students write a fake Tweet from a character of Of Mice and Men. They are hanging on the front board now, a trophy for our hard reading effort. My College Comp students are participating in Write Whatcha Want Wednesday each week, and next week in Speech class we’ll be creating infomercials as part of our persuasive speech unit. In a nutshell, I’m back. The fire has been reignited. I’m teaching with passion once again. And if the purpose of this blog challenge is to focus on an attitude of gratitude, I am so very thankful for that.
3 Comments
Jenny
11/17/2014 10:05:37 am
Been there and back. So glad you are finding passion in your work again. Can't wait to meet in person one of these days! Always enjoy your entries.
Reply
11/19/2014 03:04:26 pm
Loved reading this and feel very happy for you that you've got your passion back. I think everyone can relate to this, even the most passionate and enthusiastic among us. There's always a time when you question what you're doing and whether you want to continue and then you find yourself going through the motions. Sometimes this can be a product of the environment in which you find yourself and you start to pick up habits of complacency that are in others, sometimes there's no real reason.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AboutTeach. Archives
September 2020
|