Bring It

It’s basketball season, and as the mother of a traveling team player, I spend my weekends sitting on the hard bleachers in the gym—smelling the smells, hearing the whistles, and feeling the adrenaline of the game. My son and his team play three, sometimes four games a day and bring energy and persistence to the court each and every time, from start to finish. It’s so fun to watch. They celebrate their wins and learn from their losses and start each game with vigor and focus.

I often attribute their energy to their age, when really that is only one small piece of it.  They have energy because they have a love of the game. They practice during the week to prepare for the contest, and they are fueled by teamwork and the just-in-time coaching during the game. They smile as they play . . . You can actually see their joy. They root for each other, and when the game is over, they reflect on their performance so they can make necessary adjustments to improve.

As I watch them play, I sometimes say, “It sure would be nice to have even half of their energy.” And then I am reminded that that is a choice I make each and every day I enter the classroom. The energy we need for teaching is not much different from the energy my son’s team chooses to play with game after game. The classroom is our court, and to energize those on our court, we too must start each and every morning with vigor and focus. We must smile, and not just with our mouths, but with our eyes and body language. Our students should see and feel our joy and love of teaching. When great moments happen, big or small, we should celebrate! Not with an extrinsic reward, but with words of affirmation and a feeling of pride. After all, sometimes a high-five is all you need to keep going.

When we make a mistake or experience a failure, we should listen intently to feedback, reflect, and keep working. Perseverance is not an option in teaching; it is a requirement. We show up minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day, because we are committed.

So on the weekends when I go to watch my eighth grader play ball, yes, I am still impressed with his youthful energy, but I also think of the energy we put forth on a daily basis and am equally impressed with ours.