Just Winging It

Teaching is not just someone showing someone else how to do something. It’s much more than that. It’s modeling that task, being patient, and finding that both the learner and the teacher can gain so much through the process. 

Learning is when you grasp a concept, whether it takes a day or months. Sometimes things don’t click right away, and that’s okay. Your brain might not be ready for that just yet. But one day, when you finally “get it,” that’s when you realize you’ve LEARNED. 

Instruction is how you approach teaching. Instruction can be a number of things (lecture, hands-on, self-taught). The key is recognizing that everyone learns differently and needs different forms of instruction to succeed. 

The role of a teacher, if you’re in it for the right reasons, is to be a good human being. That means being patient, understanding differences, being flexible, and managing the chaos each day. When I taught English, it wasn’t just about teaching the basics of literature and language. It was much more for me. It was showing my love and compassion for those things while also showing love and compassion for my students. They say you catch more flies with honey, and I have to agree with that. I never pretended to be the nice teacher, but I truly MEANT it – from my heart every day. I put everything I had into loving each one of my kids, no matter how different they were. I wanted them to feel seen and valued. I mean who wants to learn something from a jerk? Connection is everything. That trust you build starts with the little things. Remembering details about their lives. Showing up for them. Being consistent.

Those same kids? They’re going to grow up to be adults just like us. Figuring it all out. We are all just winging it. The only difference is, some of us have gotten really good at pretending we know what we are doing.