More About Teaching

I realized today why I love teaching. While working at the learning center, I had a student for the last hour that needed some help with his algebra two homework. He was struggling. Said his teacher told him to not pursue a program next year that required that he take an advanced math class. His focus was drama, but he really seemed interested in this program. He was having a really hard time with algebra, but the stuff he'll be doing is probability and statistics! I worked with him only for an hour, but found him very easy to explain things to. He seemed to be missing pieces to the puzzle, but once I explained things he seemed to 'get it'. The light bulb turned on. THAT is why I teach. Watching his face, listening to him tell me that I have no idea how much easier it is now that I have cleared up a few things or put it in a different way than he has seen it before and that now he gets it. He was so excited. I was really happy to have worked with him. I was trying to decide if I shoudl go back to teaching... I've been out of it for a while, I haven't managed my own classroom in a long time and wasn't sure I wanted to. But after helping this kid, after seeing his reaction... I know this is what I need to be doing.