Ups and downs of being a young teacher

I never thought I would say this, but it somehow turned out to be true. Teaching really is a nice profession. I didn´t know I would become one until I crossed the threshold of the building I am sitting in right now. It´s nothing special, but once I got to know the people I would spend every day with (teachers AND students included), I knew everything was how it was supposed to be; just all right.

I never even came across the idea of me standing in front of other people and sharing the knowledge, primarily because I hate speaking in front of a crowd; doesn´t matter if it´s a crowd of two or twenty. Besides, I never really liked spending time with children. Maybe that´s why teaching at high school works better for me. I am not that horribly and unbearably older than my students are. I remember how it was hanging around at school every day, spending time with the same people for ages and, most of all, the workload of home works I never really wanted to do because everything seemed stupid, unhelpful and pointless. Well, I realized just now how wrong I was…. And how hard it is to convince the youngsters to actually do what they are told because one day, just like me, they will understand what a mistake it was to ignore the advices of the older ones.

Oh, the laziness! I could spend ages talking about how lazy some of them are. Sometimes it gets so bad I am screaming inside. I say “open your books please” and the actual act of finding the book in their bags, turning the pages and finding the right one seems like a painful job to do. Oh, and asking them to actually do something, take their pens and books and write down the bits and pieces I am trying to explain…. It´s like the generation doesn´t know what a pen and paper are. Was I the same? I hope not.

Another factor that I find difficult to solve is the bad habits some of them have from the young age. Smoking pot during the breaks or booze-pregame before going on school trips is a huge no-no for me. Not that I was better-behaved or any different during my high-school years, I just left out the bad stuff and revisited it much MUCH later. Sometimes when they try hard to hide it and act normal, I find it super funny and am laughing hard inside. However, I can´t show it. It´s on me now to act responsibly, punish them for the stupid stuff they did and try to talk some sense into them. Which, by the way, is taken in by one ear, avoided by the brain and blown straight out to the thin air through the other one.

 Much more enjoyable, however, are the ups, there is not much of them, though. But I hope that as the time goes by and we get to know one another better, there will be more enjoyable experiences with every day spent together.  For example, about two weeks ago, the fourth grade had a graduation ceremony and as much as I didn´t want to go there, I surprisingly enjoyed it; probably because I got the opportunity to see the kids in another light – happy, carefree and enjoying the moment. It was also the first time we had together without pens, papers and rules, so we talked a little, shared stories that usually teachers and students don´t share and had fun. I felt like I was one of them; perhaps because of the little age gap, or maybe just because they are the kind of people I like to talk to. Free spirits living their own way, interested in all kinds of things, good listeners who enjoy every single breath of life.

Another highlight happened just two days ago. I was appointed (together with my colleague) to accompany them to a theatre play followed by a visit of the Christmas market. Apart from the occasional yelling at the puberty-slapped first years not to smoke and stay away from the mulled wine, I enjoyed the time spent together with them. We took a photo again, I think the good mood is quite obvious:

So yes. I thought I would never say this but I do enjoy being a teacher. Although there are instances that hurt my brain cells or drive me crazy, the little enjoyable moments quickly replace them and make it all worthwhile. 

I hope you liked my little confession...

Until next time,

Čauko, Lenka :)