REDISCOVERING THE JOYS AND PLEASURES OF TEACHING

MARICON M. SUING

Being a teacher is really not an easy job to fulfill. Teaching is a skill that is learned through many years in the classroom. A genuine and compassionate teacher who has the personality and attitude that students will respect is a great asset to the educational system.

As dedicated advocates of education, we can find the inherent joys and pleasures in teaching. With challenges facing public school teachers today, finding that joy may appear to be a difficult path, but teaching can be an act of community involvement on the part of teachers and not just the traditional career move. In either case, teaching is one of the most important commitments a person can make.

With such varied stressful workloads, a teacher faces, we could still rediscover its joys and pleasures by simply restating that we are the decisive element in the classroom. It’s our everyday mood that sets the tone. The teacher embodies a tremendous power to make a child’s life in school miserable or joyous.

The greatest weapon that a teacher can use is being able to consistently make students feel comfortable in a wholesome atmosphere while they are learning. Finding ways and means to lessen the burden of teaching could a great leap to rediscover its joys.

What we teach to children today is critical to the success of the child and our country. Accomplishment giving back, fulfilling the social contract – these are all joys found in the lifestyle and the profession of teaching, no matter what the obstacles.

Rediscover that joy and pleasure and try to redefine your love for teaching.

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The author is Teacher III at Betis High School