Its been 4 weeks now that i have been teaching at PSCS and i am beginning to see how I feel through the day. When the day starts, i cant wait to get to school. The moment i walk in through the doors of the University Heights Building, i forget the rest of my life. Every moment is soaked up by a student or some school activity. Whether i am teaching, talking to a student, helping them through a problem, talking to a staff member, eating or just plain watching the students, i feel a heightened sense of alertness. My mind attentive all the time. That is just so exhausting. It is easily more exhausting than being at Microsoft was. I cant tune off like i could in the middle of meetings, while reading email or take a moment to browse the internet.
Being with students can take all the attention you can give, even if it comes from just watching them. There is something to learn from them all the time. Every motion and action of theirs is telling me something about them and every motion and action of mine is telling them something about me. When you talk to them you are passing on some of yourself to them and believe me when i say that they are picking up everything you are telling -- the said and the unsaid. I watch myself closely as i interact with them. Whether i exclaim at the weather of the day or my favorite comic, they are learning from me. And when they tell of their favorite TV show, sport or music, they are teaching me something.
As i watch them and myself closely, it is telling me something about how we relate, can relate with each other and the world around us. We are learning all the time from each other and learning all the time is exhausting! It is my hope that as the days pass, being alert will not exhaust me but will make me more alive at the end of the day ...
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