Finding the small joys

This is my first year teaching. 99.9% of my experiences have occurred via virtual learning. The only time I have been able to see any students is when I go to campus to assess. Recently, I was able to see a student of mine for an assessment for their upcoming triennial review. Seeing this student’s reaction to being on campus hit me like a ton of bricks. They were excited to be there, but at the same time they were also afraid. They loved being in the classroom and seeing me in-person. They also expressed that they were afraid of getting COVID and wanted to get through the activities as quickly as possible so they could go home. Seeing their reaction caused an emotional reaction in myself. While I was excited and filled with joy to see one of my students in-person, I was also caught off guard and saddened. I found the joy during this assessment in seeing their face light up each time they were able to complete a task (math, ELA, etc) correctly. That was the spark I was missing this year; seeing the lightbulb go off.