Embracing My Inner Joyous Teaching Dork

I Heart 1:1 Tutoring.

I’m a teaching dork and I can’t help it. Mid-Winter coziness has settled in and I have a wonderful nest of students with whom I’ve worked for quite a while. I'll get a fresh cup of tea at the end of an hour then dive into my next session, happy to see the learner on the other side of the video chat. At the end of this fall I also acquired a whole host of new students and I can’t help it: the joyousness of communing with students over topics we enjoy makes me energized and inspired.

Joy in teaching = corny? Whatever, dude!

Here’s a sample of what I’m working on with my students this week:

·      Animal intelligence

·      A Short History of Exploring the Term ‘Gothic’/Gothic Literature

·      Golden Age of Pirates & Treasure Island

·      A Comparison of Four Hard Science Fiction Narrative Themes in Contact, The Martian, Arrival, and Aurora.

·      A Hardboiled Mystery Sequel

·      Salem Witch Trials

·      A YA fantasy novel

My schedule goes like this: I get up at five am, write for several hours every morning, then turn towards teaching in the early afternoon. This makes for a long day, but when I go for a run around dusk, I feel good! I feel fulfilled and excited for the next interaction with that student later in the week or next week.

Part of what makes the job great is the wonderful relationship that I have with the parents. To join with them in seeing their learner’s intellectual horizon expand is deeply meaningful to both me and the parent.

I take great satisfaction in having the luxury of time and attention to listen to a student form individual thoughts, subtle interpretations, or solid arguments in response to the material. I love it! It's kinda pure.

I had aimed towards becoming a professor, and may do so again because I very much enjoyed that teaching environment as well. One college student wrote in an evaluation something about how they could tell when they were doing well because my whole being lit up with enthusiasm. So true! Teaching is an art form. I aim not just to teach someone something they'll remember next year; my goal is to teach them something they'll remember in twenty years.

I love my job!

Just had to share--

As always, if you or your learner is interested in writing a big project, or seeking one on one educational guidance in creative writing and/or English, you can let me know in the contact form and we can chat to see if I can help.