Teachers are burnt out, overwhelmed, and unappreciated. Or fed up with the demands of testing and all the media reports claiming we aren’t doing enough. At least this is what we hear, right? There has been a spate of recent postings from teachers drafting angry resignation letters, or urging potential teachers to avoid the profession at all costs. {As a good blogger, I should link to and reference these, but I don’t want to. I don’t want you to read them!}
Instead, I want you to read this story from the New York Times about the findings of a recent Gallup poll about well-being. In that poll, teachers ranked second among all professions when it came to measures of well-being such as health and job-satisfaction (just behind physicians).
Are you surprised by these results? I’m not. I’m a teacher, and I love my job! What I found most interesting in this report is that teachers, more than any other profession, reported smiling or laughing, and experiencing “happiness and enjoyment” at work the day before the survey. I’m sure it’s not a surprise to anyone that daily laughter, smiles, and happiness can contribute to our overall health and well-being. But maybe people are surprised that these harried teachers are also happy and healthy!
It’s not that I don’t experience frustrations or have bad days as a teacher {I certainly do!}, and I do understand that the national debates about standards, testing, and teacher quality are important, if aggravating and often misguided. But amidst these frustrations, I still smile and laugh every day at my job. In a twist on Teacher Appreciation Week, I’m taking time to reflect on what I appreciate about teaching.
Our occupations truly occupy a significant amount of our waking hours. Sometimes, finding satisfaction with our jobs is about finding a shift in perspective.
Expressing gratitude for the work we are privileged to do brings joy to our life’s work.Tweet
As I reflect on what I appreciate in my vocation, I hope you’ll take time to reflect on what makes you laugh, smile, and appreciate the amazing work YOU do!
As a teacher, I appreciate…
… my students! They are absolutely the number one reason I smile and laugh each day. And I’m not just talking about funny tweet-able moments, like all those essays I read about medieval pheasants {and once, even Smurfs, instead of serfs} mysteriously dying of plaque during the Black Death. The enthusiasm, insights, optimism, and humor of my students are always day-brighteners. Their questions, feedback, and engagement inspire me to be a lifelong learner and to become a better teacher. What brightens your day at work?
… my colleagues! I love the time I spend with my intelligent and humorous colleagues. Next to my classroom, the place I laugh most at work is in the teacher lunchroom. I know many of us work through our lunchtime, but I think the time for socializing and laughing with colleagues — friends — is essential to being happy and fulfilled at work. Can you make your lunch break a true break? Can you seek out positive colleagues or friends to connect with during the day for smiles and laughter?
… that teaching, like parenting, calls upon me to be fully present. Sarah Napthali, in her book Buddhism for Mothers, advises mothers to ask themselves, “What is needed of me right now?” I think this advice about mindful parenting applies to mindful teaching as well. Yes, those ungraded essays are still there, report cards are due, there’s that meeting in the afternoon, standardized tests are coming up…. But what is needed of you right now? To be present with your students at this moment. With a mind focused on the task at hand, we can see the joy, and we can approach problems with clarity. Deborah Schoeberlein writes in Mindful Teaching and Teaching Mindfulness that “When you’re really [t]here, your teaching is effective and you feel energized.” Are you present and mindful in the work you do? Do you focus on the “right now?”
My daughter’s note to her Kindergarten teacher.
… that I am making a difference. I am sometimes astounded by an email that comes from a student from years ago, who remembers one moment in a class that has long ago slipped from my memory, but impacted them profoundly ~ an insight, a moment of humor, a lesson that has helped them become who they are today.
Though we tend to focus on professions like teaching or medicine in terms of “making a difference,” I believe that what we all do matters and makes a difference! I love the philosophy of Juut SalonSpa: each employee is a Daymaker. Engaging clients in conversation, sharing a smile, giving a shoulder massage … those small kindnesses can make someone’s day. No matter what your job or life’s work is, you have a chance every day to make a difference for someone. And that sense of mission as we connect with others is what truly makes us thrive in what we do. The beauty and mystery is that we may never know who we will impact, but what we do matters! What can you do to be a Daymaker?
Teaching is my Vocation
Ultimately, what makes me happy and appreciative as a teacher is my strong conviction that teaching is not just my occupation, but it is my vocation. Renowned educator Parker Palmer reminds us in his book Let Your Life Speak that the word “vocation” comes from the Latin word for “voice.” Our vocations are not just “jobs” or a means to an end ~ they are what our lives call us to do as we allow our gifts to speak to the world.
As much as I have enjoyed all the treats, notes, and kind words of Teacher Appreciation Week, I am most appreciative that I have found a vocation that brings purpose, laughter, and smiles to my life {almost} every week of the year!
*****
Coda: In writing this post, I consulted an online thesaurus to find different words for “work (n.).” Here is a sampling of what I found: daily grind, drudge, drudgery, elbow grease, exertion, labor, pains, servitude, slogging, stress, struggle, toil, travail, trial, trouble. Yikes!! No wonder some people aren’t happy at their jobs if that’s how we think of work! I love the quote from the Buddha {below} about the importance of how we think about our lives ~ words matter!
Top photo credit: thanker212 via photopin cc
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