Thoughts on the Job

Weeee! The semester's officially over! I've submitted my grades yesterday. And, finally, I get to rest and relax! I get two days of rest and Admissions for the next semester starts! Even if I feel so tired, I can't wait for the new semester to start. I don't know. That, I guess, is the irony of my life. I complain I don't get enough rest, but give me more than two days of rest and I can't wait to start working again. Hehe:)

As with every semester that passes, I'll miss all my classes and my students. At the same time, I can't wait to meet the new sets of students in my classes next semester. I can't wait to have interesting class discussions and learn newer and fresher ideas. Those are two of the reasons why teaching is such an enjoyable job. I think I've mentioned in this blog before how people may think or perceive teaching to be a boring job that has you, the teacher, doing exactly the same thing every single day, every single week, every single year. In fact, someone I know once said that if she ever became a teacher, she'd probably die of boredom and the never-changing routine. I could only smile to myself.

Yes, teaching can be routinary in the sense that you go to class everyday to the same classroom at the same scheduled time and face the same set of faces for at least five months. Most of the time, you teach the same topic to different classes. I would admit, that sounds pretty boring. But, once you get past these ideas, I tell you that teaching is, in fact, is so much fun and very interesting! Boring and routinary would be the last adjectives you'd want to use in describing teaching.

As with individuals, no two classes are the same. You don't use the same approach to two different classes even if you teach the same subject. What may work in one class may not work in another. That's one challenge that we, teachers, always have to deal with. Everyday. Each class has a variety of personalities that you have to cater to. Each class has different sensibilities, likes and dislikes. I'd say each class has a culture of its own.

Teaching is so much more than meets the eye. Every single day is a unique day, different from all the rest. Heck, every class session is different from all the rest! People may think teaching is just like reading one and the same book every single day and going back to its pages over and over again all throughout your career as a teacher. It's not like that at all. Teaching is like reading a different book every single day. You meet different kinds of characters and you find yourself caught in different kinds of adventure, no, not everyday, but every class session! Now, isn't that fun?

Another thing is being a teacher makes you a mother/father, sister/brother, friend, actor, writer, critique, police officer, lawyer/judge, engineer, psychiatrist, manager and a lot more all at the same time. But, the best thing about teaching is when you see your students smile and nod in unison as they understand the discussion, when you see that "light bulb" moment in your students telling you that they comprehend the lesson, when you see that smile of thankfulness. No, words aren't needed. You see that "moment," no matter how fleeting, you hold on to that and smile to yourself: "I've done my job today."

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