Being

It goes without saying that this time of year is crazy. Between the parties, traveling, and irregular schedules, it’s easy to forget the importance of “being.”

 This was our last full week of school before coming back Monday and Tuesday to wrap up classes before break. Needless to say, chaos has taken over in more ways than. To my best ability, I’ve been teaching as normal. We are plugging along with our reading and writing; however, the focus is lacking.

During my prep, I ran across an article from Edutopia titled “What Students Remember Most About TheirTeachers.” As teachers, we run around in between classes, rush around in the morning ensuring we have enough copies, and as the students leisurely make their way into our classrooms, are we really listening to them? I know I’ve caught myself finishing up emails or cleaning up my room as students tell me about their math tests and upcoming weekend plans. Instead of listening, I am really only hearing words come out of their mouths.

I needed to read this article to remember it’s time to just “be.” Be in the present, with each student, each class. Just as the article mentions, “Because we want our students to think we’re the very best at what we do, and we believe that this status of excellence is achieved merely by doing. But we forget – and often. Excellence is more readily attained by being.

Being available.

Being kind.

Being compassionate.

Being transparent.

Being real.

Being thoughtful.

Being ourselves.”

Our students don’t remember us by lessons. Yes, they may remember that cool activity that was linked to Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery,” but more than anything, they remember how we make them feel. They will remember the kind of people we are.

There is no better time than now to stop and remember why we teach, and even more importantly how we are making our students feel. They matter. Be present and listen to each story because that’s what it’s really all about.