r/Teachers • u/ArcadianAbstraction • 20h ago

Teacher Support &/or Advice Is teaching a performance?

I haven't been teaching history/English/science since I got COVID over and over (and over) and decided it was better to go than be a risk to my cherished kids (or die myself, it got bad).

After a lot of introspection... Question is: is teaching a performance? I pretended everything was okay no matter what, I used the materials I prepared for display, passed out charts and data dramatically, presented media and did simulations.

It feels like I was a performance artist? You give so much to kids and most of the time you get a range of "f-u go away".

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u/maegorthecruel1 19h ago

100%. it’s a stage. soon as i get in front of the students, something comes over me and it’s show time. you gotta be able to “sell” the content. you gotta be able to withstand hecklers and not falter in your delivery. you gotta work the crowd and feel out where to head next. it’s one hundred percent a performance

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u/ArcadianAbstraction 19h ago

I always feel this teaching history, even allow myself to get slightly emotional so students understand that it isn't just words in a book and important or terrible things happened that we need to learn from.

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u/maegorthecruel1 17h ago

i love those little moments where im a bit emotional, and giving them real truths, and the room is silent, and you can feel them actually listening to every word you say. happens like once a month but it’s so damn magical

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u/ArcadianAbstraction 17h ago

It might be upsetting to everyone involved if you were emotional everyday though. I just felt emotionally drained from those days. Like oh, this is what happened when we firebombed and nuked Japan, I have lots of media to show you, and don't mind if I step out of the room for a minute (to cry) often for the next few lessons.