Teach From Your Heart

I’m now 15 weeks into student teaching and am teaching most of each day. I’ll be honest, I have been finding it difficult to bring my best every day…to be enthused with every lesson and in turn keep students engaged and excited to learn. After the 20th time of teaching a 1st grade phonics lesson, you get pretty tired of making the short vowel sounds and blending 3 and 4 letter words over and over.

I found myself questioning if I could do this every day. BUT I found the solution to be very simple…always always always teach from your heart. If I’m not teaching with love, I may as well not teach at all. I find I am a better teacher when I put love for my students at the forefront of my thought – I’m more aware of their learning and their needs. I find my students are more engaged and receptive when I love them through everything I do.

Not every lesson you teach can be fun and exciting and amazingly creative, but I’ve found I can still teach them from my heart because I recognize they need these lessons and I want to give them what they need. That’s what keeps me going! It may seem fairly simply, but it has had a profound effect for me.

This realization reminded me of a video I came across on Twitter from The Teaching Channel in which a man gives his best advice after 34 years of teaching. Highly recommend it!