25 years. That’s a quarter of a century, In those 25 years, I’ve seen trends come and go (goodbye chalk, overhead projector, messennger, facebook; hello, boardmarker, PC, Twitter, instagram, TikTok?) and have successfully trained myself to answer “Will I be able to speak English fluently at the end of the year?” with and approving expression on my face and a comment like: ‘If you speak in class, sure, as you can’t learn speaking without speaking!’
Let’s be honest, teaching is a bit like being a stand-up comedian or a performance artist—except instead of a microphone, you have a whiteboard marker in one hand and a stack of grading papers in the other. And no one cheers when you get on stage or ever laughs at your jokes unless they’re completely accidental.
‘All the world’s is a stage, and all the men and women merely players…’ let Shakespeare speak out Jacques in his monologue in the play ‘As you like it’. Although these lines have almost become a cliche and has way too often been quoted, they are still one of the most meaningful sentences that describe life. We are all performing our parts. That is exactly how I feel not only about my life but also as a teacher. We’re acting out on the stage each day. Like actors rehearse their lines before their performance we as teachers similarly plan our lessons in detail. We try to make it as enjoyable and interesting as possible. We mime and move around, and our voices rise and fall to keep the focus on us and hinder our audience to fall asleep. We often even have a B plan in case there is no internet, the PC in class does not work or the class is an uneven number, and we planned a pair work that day. And every day when I walk along the corridor, I murmur to myself ‘The performance will begin in a few minutes’. When I finally arrive in front of the classroom I stop for a moment and take a deep breath. I look at the reminder I sticked on the classroom door (I recently noticed that I did that more for myself than for the students) which says: Choose to smile! So, I put a smile on my face and step in with an energetic good morning. Surely, I’m not greeted with an applaud and students are mostly still sleepy or they are focused on the light of their mobiles in the dark classroom whose light they didn’t even turn on when they came and just glance at me for a moment greet me back with a lack of energy and lean back as if they are trying to say: ‘Let’s see what you have for us today, will you be able to catch our attention. Come on entertain us!’
As a teacher, I have learned that the classroom is not just a place to impart knowledge; it’s also a battleground for survival. Every day is a new episode of “Will This Lesson Work?” (Sometimes, it doesn’t. But that’s okay! They say trial and error is a form of learning, right? And in this classroom in this World, we are all learners.)
But in all seriousness, teaching has given me an incredibly fulfilling life. I’ve had the honour of watching students improve, not just academically, but personally. It’s rewarding to know that you’ve helped shape their perspectives, even if they don’t realize it until they’ve graduated and are making coffee runs in the real world. I’ll always cherish those moments when a student finally “gets it,” or when they remember something you taught them years later and thank you for it. It’s like being a backstage mentor in the great show that is their life.
So, here’s to another 25 years—or, well, at least until I can retire to a place where I’m not constantly asking “Did you do your homework?” In the end, teaching has been one of the most rewarding experiences, full of unexpected lessons, laughs, and lots and lots of caffeine.For now, show goes on 🙂
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