Are Educators Passionate About Their Profession?
by Sam LeDeaux • • 0 Comments
Educators, do you have to go to work? Or do you get to come to school? There’s a BIG difference between the two…
I enrolled my 5 year old son into a hip hop dance class. The sessions are held in a sound proof studio with a window that allows parents to observe. It’s taught by an 18 year old kid (let’s call him Junior), with a high top fade (YES! They’re back!), wearing sagging skinny track pants (I still marvel at the fact that skinny anything can sag..) with half his boxers showing. I couldn’t hear the instruction, the kids’ questions, or Junior’s responses to their questions. As an educator myself, I wished I could because I felt myself slipping into observation mode. As I slipped deeper into observation mode, I realized that just like in the classroom, I don’t need to focus much on the teacher; I can gather a lot of information from observing the kids.
I’m not sure any of the kids blinked during the entire hour long session, as their eyes were fixated on Junior, and everywhere he moved around the room. Every kid immediately and enthusiastically vaulted into action following direction. Kids’ faces were beaming with smiles and the room filled with laughter following apparent jokes from Junior. Each kid’s body language screamed pride: straight posture, chest out, chin up. When Junior asked questions, all hands shot up in the air, and no mouths moved until Junior called on someone, and only that one mouth moved. Because it was sound proof, I couldn’t hear what was taking place. But through my observations, it was very clear what was taking place: Junior’s passion for his craft was overflowing, contagious, and positively infecting kids!
A “classroom” filled with kids from 4-10 years old, at 7 o’clock in the evening. My 5 year old son gets up at 7:00am, and