Joys of Teaching!

Upon the reflection of teaching, I also think of things that bring me joy. I have tried to pick something that brings me joy in both virtual and real-life settings. Do you ever get confused about something and then all of a sudden it just “clicks”? You wondered all that time why the heck you didn’t see it or understand it before it “clicked”.

Well, that is exactly what brings me joy while teaching. Seeing the “lightbulb” go off in my students’ heads. It never fails, the amount of joy I see in their faces when they finally understand a tricky or new concept. They feel accomplished and I feel proud of myself for getting them to that moment they felt.

The look almost always begins with squinting of the eyes, then they raise their eyebrows and open their mouth wide while saying, “ohhhhh!!!”. It never gets old and I absolutely enjoy seeing it happen with all of my students. Even through our virtual setting, I still get to see it if their cameras are on through Zoom.