Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Confucius says...

"Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life" - Confucius

Even though I have issues with the politics of teaching, that was a job that I never worked.

Knowing that I was able to influence children with my education (old and new) gave me a sense of pride and just made me feel good.  Being able to introduce them to cultures and pictures and music and food that they would've never experienced in their everyday lives made me feel like I was making a difference.

Being able to learn more about my job (which was teaching all aspects of social studies and African Studies) through everything that I introduced my kids too was exciting.  There was nothing like sitting up until 10, 11 pm writing out a week long lesson plan about the history of hip hop by playing reggae, dancehall, Yoruba, and the first hip hop songs to them.  While introducing them to different genres of music of the Diaspora, I was also able to teach them prose, literature, Civil Rights and Constitutional history, geography, theology, and social consciousness.

Damn I miss teaching.

I remember that lesson plan well, starting out with a little Bob Marley, coming back with some Beenie Man, then flipping it to a little Run DMC, and ending it with some nonsense like Soulja Boy (clean versions of course).  Watching their faces and their heads nodding to the beat of "Get up Stand up" made me smile.  And then reading the rhymes they penned (a homework assignment they actually loved) and watching them perform...coming out of their shells...

I really miss teaching lol.

The three years I taught, I totally never felt like it was work.  There were long hours at the job and at home, insanity from some parents, exhaustion from learning about the fate of some of our students...but it never felt like work.  And everything that occurred in those three years in the classroom was absolute love.

And summers, spring, and winter breaks didn't hurt either. :o)

YCM/YCFs: what job did/do you do that doesn't feel like work?  

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