Teacher

The happy birthday greetings keep trickling in on Facebook or e-mail and the message is clear— in over 500 greetings, the vast majority are remembering me as their teacher. Both the kids I taught in school and the fellow teachers I taught in workshops and courses. Their heart-warming appreciations are not for me as a friend, author, performing musician, social justice advocate, all roles I’ve worked to cultivate. They are expressing gratitude for my teaching and how it opened doors for them, affirmed their deep character, made their own teaching more fun and effective. 

 

And that’s as it should be. Every morning these past two weeks, I wake up with the next idea about how to bring my familiar Level III material alive more vibrantly in this moment and with these people. As we are about to do a sharing, I’m dreaming of which parts best fit certain people or how I can stretch them to try a part they didn’t know they were ready for, but I have faith that they are. While I value all those other roles mentioned above, I pursued most of them to make my teaching both more successful and enjoyable. And if I do my math, I’ve spent many more hours teaching than I have writing, playing piano, hanging out with friends, etc. 

 

So teacher it is, an identity I proudly claim. Thanks to all who have let me know that it has made a difference in their lives. It certainly has been a great joy and pleasure in mine. So off I go to continue in today’s classes.