Sometimes, I love getting ready to teach a new unit. All the planning that goes into it, searching for visuals, scouring the library for books, practicing with the art materials, testing out new supplies.
Sometimes I love that very first moment of a lesson, when students are immediately engaged and 'hooked'.
Sometimes I love when a big messy project is done, and all the supplies are organized and put away and I know I don't have to deal with that big mess again for a long time.
Sometimes I love changing the inflection in my voice to really drive a point home to students when I am giving a demonstration.
Sometimes I love sitting down, at the end of a big unit, writing about WHAT NOT to do next time.
Sometimes I love finding something from pop culture to throw into the mix, just to make sure my students get it, that I GET IT.
Sometimes I love it when something disastrous happens early in the day...so that I can incorporate that into future lectures and demonstrations. When I describe or show off a big OOPS moment, my students can avoid those pitfalls and I can anticipate when and where they might have trouble. Sometimes a funny thing will happen, and I can explain where someone else went wrong, this provides a really good visualization and connection for what NOT to do.
Sometimes I love it when my students stop by my room because they made me something over the weekend, and they just HAVE to hand deliver it 1st thing, before school.
Sometimes I love arriving early....before anyone else is in the building, just to have a quiet moment at my desk, thinking through my 'script' for the day, mentally inventorying and surveying the room, before any students arrive, so that I can anticipate each and every minute of the lesson. I go through a mental map, and checklist of the room, making sure that I have thought of everything and anticipated every step in advance.
Sometimes I love the feeling of accomplishment when I put up a big display of student work, showing off their talents, putting their hard work on display is very rewarding when the results are successful, especially for those kids who don't find much success in school anywhere else.
Sometimes I just love the hugs.
What I love MOST about teaching, isn't any ONE thing. It is every little thing combined into one big reward.
What about you? What do you love most?
This post is part of the Reflective Teaching 30-Day Blog Challenge for Teachers by Teach Thought.