Motivation

So I'm starting to get motivated to be a good teacher (finally!!). Yes, this is a draining profession. Yes, I put in a 60-hour work week. Yes, I'm tired all the time. BUT I think I can make it all worthwhile.

I'm not sure how yet (that's the kicker), but I want to really get good at teaching. I want to be able to "get through to" those kids who piss me off. I want them to enjoy at least part of school. I want to be more energetic, more interesting, and more effective as a teacher. I'm not sure HOW to do this, but I think the motivation is the first step.

Today while driving, I was thinking about attitude. Some of my colleagues are VERY negative, and I don't want any part of that. Sure, you can focus on all the negatives, but there's so much more than that!

I imagined an exchange between me and a wise sage. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: "I'm tired and I feel overworked."
Sage: "Sure, sure." (Makes a brushing gesture with his hand.) "But no negativity. What's good??"
Me: "You don't understand how hard I work and how tired I get!"
Sage: "Sure I do. Everyone can always complain about something. What is good?"
Me: (Hesitantly) "Well... My health is pretty good."
Sage: "Go on."
Me: "I have a job I like overall."
Sage: "Here we go! Keep going."
Me: "I like who I am, generally, I'm usually pretty happy, I'm passionate, I want my students to do well, I'm a critical thinker, I want to change things positively."
Sage: "Good. Good."

So yeah, we can always choose to complain. But today I'm going to choose not to. I'm gonna start focusing on only the good and see how that goes. It's hard, but I think it'll be awesome in the long run.

I'm off to plan a kick-ass lesson on mean, mode, median, and range. Cheers!