Giving our best...Even when we don't have to

Teaching and connecting with students is one of my life’s passions. If I could teach five days a week all year and eliminate grading I would. There are always going to be aspects of our jobs or daily lives that we don’t like doing. However, they are necessary for the job. Giving your best effort no matter what the task is so important. I put everything I have into grading, even though it isn’t my favorite thing to do. I would much rather be planning how I’m going to connect with my students the next day.

However, I often hear students saying that assignments are pointless or that they have senioritis, and they do not want to do an assignment. I see that as ingratitude for the opportunity you have been given, the opportunity to learn and grow as a person. Education is an incredible gift that we take for granted in the United States. Being able to teach in a job that allows me the freedom with my curriculum and the privilege of pouring into students on a daily basis is something that I sometimes take for granted. 

Besides ingratitude, it is also a sign of taking our eyes off the prize. When we lose sight of what our passion or major goals are, we begin to “slack off” or see tasks as pointless. It is in these moments when I feel like I’m working harder than the students that I become disheartened. I want them to have the same passion for education that I do. I want them to pour their heart and soul into every assignment. I often find myself thinking about my classes and my students when I am unable to sleep at night and trying to problem solve how to build a better connection or help them see the value in the work we are doing.

I think what it all boils down to is follow through. Following through on those things that are necessary to achieve our goals and those things that we ought to do because it just has to be done. Homework completion might not seem like a big deal now, but it is developing a habit, it is forcing us to do the things we don’t like to better enjoy the aspects of our jobs we do enjoy. Please help me commit to embracing the “not fun” tasks to gain a greater appreciation of the tasks we are more passionate about.