There are many times when I come to class with all my lessons carefully planned. Of course, it’s important that we have clear objectives, know what we’re trying to achieve by the end of the lesson or the term, how many worksheets we need to go through, and how many correct answers we’d like our students to achieve. But I’ve found that some of the best lessons I’ve ever taught, when students were truly engaged and we had lots of fun and joy, were the lessons when I was simply present.
Those were the lessons when I scrapped the plan, was there with my students, and really listened to what was on their minds, what was happening at school and in their lives, and what they were struggling with at that moment. It’s incredibly helpful with teaching writing because writing is life. The more you experience and pay attention to life, the better you can create an interesting writing piece.
Instead of strictly following the plan, I went with the flow, went with the present moment, and followed what the students really wanted to do, while still being guided by our learning objectives. Those were the lessons when we laughed at our mistakes, enjoyed being in each other’s company, and amazingly we created something that we had never thought about before.
And somehow, by focusing on the present, we eventually became more productive, and the lessons turned out to be perfect in their own way. Because the truth is, if a student says, “I like coming to your class,” I believe we’ve already won half the battle in creating positive changes in their learning journey.
Presence in parenting, work and life
I find that the same philosophy applies to parenting, work and life. There are many times when the thought of having to make something perfect makes us feel overwhelmed and stops us from doing what we’d really like to do. Whereas, if we can simply show up and be present, we’re already more than halfway there.
The same goes for productivity. We often think that the more we do, the better. But many times, especially when it comes to children, their learning journey and their exploration, less is better. Sometimes, we just need to let them be, give them space to explore, and simply be available when they need us. That can be the most important thing for their imagination, creativity, growth and their journey of figuring out who they are and who they want to become. Because at the start of a learning or creating process, it’s crucial to be able to wander, putter around explore without always knowing exactly where we’re going.
“I don’t know what to do” can be a good start.
“I don’t know where this is going” is perfectly fine.
“I don’t think it’s going to be perfect” is very normal.
But I’ll show up. I’ll be present. I’ll give it a go.
Because presence is much more important than perfection and productivity when it comes to curiosity, creativity and connection.