Teaching has never meant "work" to me. Bringing philosophy to community college students and to children K-12 has been my great good fortune. I realized early on that the word "vocation," with its focus on job as "calling," best describes a career in education. Hopefully, some of the following tips gleaned from long experience will jumpstart the school year for teachers at any level:
1) Take time to reflect upon the meaning of education at the start of each school year. I ask myself: Why should students spend their time with me? Why does education matter? What is it? And I remember the heart of the Latin root of the words "to educate," and the image inspired by "to lead up, to lead out" fuels me. My students and I are on the go!
2) Assume the responsibility to care for each of your students. Not "like" every one, necessarily, but to care for his/her wellbeing whatever that may mean. I remind myself that I am teaching people as well as my subject matter.
3) Never underestimate the power of narrative. Tell stories and listen to theirs. Storytelling is the way we learn important truths about each other and tales impart lasting lessons. Share your experiences as a kindergartener or a first semester college student. Homesick!
4) Separate the process of becoming an educated person from the goal of getting a job. The enrichment of one's humanity and the realization of possibilities are valuable gifts in and of themselves. Take children and business majors to an art or science museum. Let artists draw and mathematicians figure. Learn with them; the process never ends.
5) Laugh. Play. As I ask my students on the first day of class, "Who says education isn't fun? I'm planning on enjoying the time we share and for you to enjoy yours."
6) Be consistent and also full of surprises. Reliable and spontaneous coexist nicely.
7) Teach to the highest ability level and expect your students to rise to your standards. Push them. Pull them up. Your rigor builds their confidence. At the very same time, be flexible. Honor heartbreak. Respect difficulty. Realize where a student is in her/his life and understand why.
8) Know that yours is a demanding calling. Welcome it. May your students leave your tutelage with hope, gratitude, compassion, and with bigger minds and hearts.
Reading over what's written here, I am pleased that these same approaches also serve me well as a tennis instructor. Teaching is teaching, learning is learning, and people are people. How lucky we are to be in a position to give away what we know and to watch as this gift improves our students' lives. And we'll never know the dividends reaped down the road....
