Falling in Love with Teaching, Again

When I first got my job with TDSB ESL/LINC in 2019, I was straight out of school. My TESOL program at Woodsworth College prepared me well for the challenges I was about to encounter. I knew how to create a lesson plan, and through my internship and volunteering, I gained experience trying it out with students.

Everything was new. Everything was fresh.

Over the years, I lost some of that spark. Perhaps it was the demands of the job. Preparing for class and commuting can be tiring. So can working in the evenings and early mornings. I dug myself into a rut.

However, lately, there have been some glimmers of hope. Perhaps it was witnessing a student’s “aha” moment when she spelled her name correctly. My evening level 1/2 students also did a great job writing emails for employment. The activity used a fill-in-the-blanks format and gave them something they could use in real-world contexts. So, I felt satisfied.

The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that my enthusiasm for the job is related to student success. Perhaps it is like this with other teachers. When they do well, I feel up. When they do poorly, I feel down.

So, acceptance is the first challenge I had to tackle. Is it true that students do poorly most of the time? No. They actually do well. Sometimes they just surprise me. I need to accept what is happening in the moment and be flexible. Take a deep breath. Sit down. Show them what to do one-on-one. I used this approach most recently with a literacy student who treated a sentence as one long word. It worked. She corrected her work and put in spaces.

In preparing for a lesson, I reviewed some old work that I had created for my students. It was pretty solid. I felt proud and it gave me a confidence boost. I used it again, with different students. I had to make tweaks here and there, but it went well.

Sometimes, reminding yourself of the work you have done helps you recapture some of your initial enthusiasm. I also did not have to start from square one, which relieved some of the stress of lesson preparation.

The more teaching experience I gain, the more confident I become. As a leader in the classroom, the way I feel is echoed by my students. That is why it is important to bring a can-do attitude to the job every time. In teaching my students about ways to find work, I looked to my own experience and shared what I found effective. Hopefully, my confidence was contagious. The students did well.

I’ve been trying to be more creative in my personal life. From drawing to origami, I find great satisfaction in creating and putting something of myself out there. I encourage my students to do the same. From writing messages of gratitude on Thanksgiving leaves to collages of favourite things, creativity helps students express themselves and take pride in describing their work in English.

As we settled into a new school year and I got to know my students, I rediscovered some of my love for teaching. Now, I feel a connection to my students. We are all human beings. I make errors. They make errors. We learn together. Hopefully, this shared experience makes them a little less embarrassed to put themselves out there.

Teaching can be a challenging profession, but I love it. I truly do. I get great satisfaction from seeing my students’ faces day after day in class. I always say, “It’s good to see you” and “Thank you” for coming because I mean it. We become so familiar with each other, and it is good to show appreciation.

I am curious whether other teachers have recaptured their spark? If so, please share how in the comments.