Reflection on Teaching

Perhaps it’s because our school is closing, or perhaps it’s just my age, but I have become increasingly reflective about teaching as an art and vocation. Tonight I listened as Lisa Fox delivered the NHS induction address. She had been invited by the students because of her passion and amazing enthusiasm and I was proud to have been her teacher and to be her colleague. I remember Lisa as my student. She was bright, quiet, and passionate about learning even then. Somehow I didn’t remember her contagious enthusiasm for life that manifests itself in every hello and hug. She has a talent for making every student feel valued and cared for and I remember that her passion for kids is why I, too, became a teacher. Teachers are never happier than when one of their students who suffered through American Government or AP US History becomes a teacher; it’s how we live on, it’s our legacy as teachers. And, as I listened to Lisa’s talk I thought that she is speaking to students who will one day becomes teachers and she will have played a role in their decision and then, they, too, will teach students who will teach others. It’s a form of immortality and in so many ways it is quite humbling. Thank you to all of my friends who teach. Know that you are doing God’s work and nothing is more important. Thanks, Lisa, for reminding me of how important we teachers can be, and for helping me remember why I became a teacher in the first place