I was reminded on Sunday of how much I love learning. As a member of the Speech and Drama Association of NSW I took part in their final seminar day for the year and had so much fun learning teaching and performing tools from some very talented people.
I love learning. Spending time wrapping my head around a concept and the exhilaration when the light bulb switches on. As a teacher that light bulb moment is sustained as you pass this new knowledge on to your students, usually with a passion they find amusing.
I love learning. My students teach me things every time I walk into a classroom. Sometimes it's an interesting piece of information on the topic at hand and others a fresh perspective. Sometimes my learning comes from the fact that every group of students brings new strengths and limitations, new challenges and triumphs. A constant reminder that there is no one way to teach any one subject. A teacher cannot simply write a program and stick to it year after year because it will, without a doubt, fail. A class I took a number of years ago is a perfect example of this. During the first half of the year they gelled and were working as a well oiled machine. The second half of the year brought me two new faces to add to the old and a whole load of challenges. Funnily enough, it was not the new students who rocked the boat. A group within the pre-existing class were suddenly not getting along and making even the simplest group task quite a chore. This taught me about the fluidity of group dynamics and signs to pay attention to - to cut potential confrontations off before they escalate. Most importantly it taught me more about thinking on my feet and creating flexible lesson plans in order to achieve the goal of a lesson whilst recognising the needs and challenges of a specific class, on a specific day.
I love learning from other teachers, my students and myself. I'm sure every teacher surprises themselves as they push themselves to dance with sometimes conflicting expectations of employers, students, parents and the larger community. We learn everyday. Recognise it or not; Like it or not.
I love learning.