Love

            As I was talking with a friend here about my internship I told him that it was hard to teach the younger children. Before I was able to explain how the children don’t pay attention or how they talk and yell when they are not supposed to or how they eat their snack during class, he told me, “You need to love the children more.” Instead of defending myself I thought about what he said.

 I realized that when I was frustrated it was mainly because I wasn’t being patient enough with the children. As I thought to myself I was reminded that these kids were six and seven years old. It was unrealistic for me to expect them to be perfectly obedient during class and to learn everything I wanted to teach them the first time that I taught it.

 I thought about what it meant to love the kids I was teaching. In summary it mainly entailed thinking of them as people rather than objects. I realized that I needed to put myself in their place and consider how I would feel, or imagine one of my nieces or nephews that is the same age as the child at hand.

As I continued teaching I made more of an effort to love the kids. When I would feel myself beginning to be frustrated I would think to myself, “Love this kid.” As I did I didn’t always think about what the child was doing wrong, but what I might change to help the child. It has been a really fun experience. I have noticed that when I focus on teaching as much material as I can, I am ineffective and the students do not retain what I am teaching. On the contrary, when I try to help each student have a positive experience, they seem to retain what I am teaching. Consciously trying to have more love for the children has helped me be happier and less stressed at work and has made the kids happier as well.