Selflessness and Teaching
The older I get, and the more I teach, the more I realize that teaching (in its truest form) is a selfless act. I am not saying that all of us are selfless or that every moment we teach we are caring for the future, but I am talking about teaching in its ideal state--what I strive for as I develop as a teacher. I choose to give up my goals in life to help someone else reach theirs. Time I would spend writing my own short story I spend reading a student's essay. I choose to think less about what I want to do and more about what will most benefit my student. Today I had a kid walk out of my class. And the real kicker was that he waved his hand in front of my face as he was doing it. I don't know about other people, but I am a "no touchy" kind of person. I don't like people in my personal space, let alone in my personal space for a hostile reason. So the selfish part of me wanted to call him out in front of the whole class--to humiliate him and let everyone in the room know that I was in charge. But that isn't what teaching is about. It's not about asserting my power or control--it's about helping students on their way to becoming full-fledge members of the human race. There will be plenty of people in life who put them in their place. My job is to chose my battles with them, so that in those moments when they really can hear me, I'll have the grounding to speak the truth to them. Don't get me wrong--I turned the kid in for skipping my class...and everyone in the room knew that. I just decided to hold off on pulling rank until it mattered for a reason more important than my ego.
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