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02 November 2014

The best part of the day...judge away!

Those little moments in your day can really make your day...

So I hopefully will not be judged too harshly for this post because while my heart and soul are teaching, I struggled to find the one consistent part of the day that I look forward to each day and while I could individuate instances that made me smile or made me feel valued as a teacher, they were not a constant. (Which isn't such a bad thing anyhow...) There were two things that I kept coming back to when thinking about today's prompt of Te@chthought's November Blogging Challenge.

The first is really a weekly occurrence.  It is when I walk into the classroom at Friends Academy School for my afternoon enrichment program and hear the 7 three and half year-olds shout in unison "Buongiorno Mr. Matt" Not only is it a validating moment but it just gives you this warm feeling.  These kids are into it and they're waiting for me every Wednesday with enthusiasm.  You can't beat that feeling!

The daily moment that I keep coming back to in my mind is my duty period.  Yes, my duty period. I know that many of you are thinking -"Is this guy nuts?!" Duty, especially the dreaded cafeteria duty, is not always fun, much less the highlight of your day.  However, this year, I have been assigned to library duty.  Essentially, my job is to make sure all students sign in and behave appropriately.  What I love about this duty is that I get to know a completely different set of students from my own.  Since it's 3rd period and not during a lunch period, the crowd is filled with regulars who have a free period.  I try to make sure to acknowledge all the students, either greeting them as a group (some are there before I get there) or individually, like one student who I call "Little Karissa." I call her this because she is one of my former students' sister but I didn't know her until this duty period.  Everyday, when she walks through the door, I shout (and I mean shout--even though it's a library) "Good morning, Little Karissa!" I think that while I am probably embarrassing her on some level, it still is making a connection and acknowledging her.  The other nice part is that I get to hang out with our librarian, Julie.  We have so much in common that it really is a pleasure to spend 43 minutes with her! It really is a nice opportunity to get to spend time with people I would normally not encounter during my day.

So, let the judging begin...

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