Troubled Start

This year, for the first time, I was not at all excited to get back to school. I'm not talking about the traditional 'The end of summer is near. I don't want school to start' kind of apprehension. For whatever reason I was not interested in teaching this year. It seemed that I had nothing to look forward to. To put this in perspective I'm usually excited to get back to school and start teaching again. I've always found something to look forward to. This is what has allowed me to enjoy teaching for all the years.

What was different about this year? I spent a lot of time thinking about it and didn't come up with much. Was this the mid-career lull for me? Was I about to become an old crotchety teacher that didn't care anymore? I figured that once the fist few days were finished I'd be back in the groove. That didn't happen. Was the problem that I'm teaching the same courses and I'm happy with the start of those courses? Same old, same old?

It wasn't until midway through the second week that I may have stumbled on a possible explanation. I'm teaching a grade 9 course. I've never met most of these students before. My grade 11 class has a small number of students that I've taught before but I only taught them for a couple of month, two years ago, before I took a leave. Finally, I have not taught any of the grade twelves, in my class, in grades 9, 10 or 11. I really don't know any of my students very well.

It occurred to me that teaching is as much about building relationships as it is teaching content. It's about the student who is really good at math and finding a way to challenge her. Or discovering the student who is very capable but lacking self confidence and helping him develop that self confidence. It's about working with those students who need extra help on a regular basis and getting to come in for that help. And the list goes on and on.

Now that I have gotten to know my students, a little, I'm excited to help them reach their goals and help them be successful. I'm excited to further those relationships and help them (as well as myself) grow. Here's hoping for a great semester.