If, as Solomon said, there truly is nothing new under the sun, why do we rise with any new anticipations? In its basic forms, classroom teaching can be nothing more than the routine instruction of a routine curriculum. Why aren’t we stuporized by the same old, same old? Do we really expect the children we teach today to be different than those we taught in years past? Will we be surprised?
The answer is yes. Good teachers are constantly renewed and invigorated by the surprises children deliver every day often in expected ways.
What do we know?
Surprise really is the spice of life. Seeing, hearing, and experiencing the unanticipated pleasantries that populate daily life adds sweet, incremental value to our existence. As a spice, a surprise makes the moment it happens different than moments before. And the following moments carry the aftertaste of the surprise.
(In this writing, I will speak only about joyful surprises. Teachers also confront events that are not joyful but are rooted in wrongful and harmful words and behaviors. These indeed are and should be surprising and require an entirely different response.)
First, you must allow yourself to be surprised every day because surprises, just like the proverbial hits, they just keep coming. Being surprisable is a personal quality that we can refine. It is like standing in front of a natural life exhibit with a hole for your hand to fit into. The exhibit will teach you the feel and texture of porcupine, rabbit, and beaver fur. You will feel the fur without seeing which fur you are touching. There always is trepidation about putting your hand into a hole holding remnants of an animal, but in your hand goes, and you smile at the feel of the soft down of rabbit fur. It could have been the porcupine. Surprise is an immediate and unretractable emotion.
I believe that teaching oneself to be ready for surprises is essential. Otherwise, a dull perspective fogs your ability to appreciate surprise when it happens. No matter how long a teacher has been in the classroom, they find joyful surprises in front of them everyday. Expect to be surprised by good things and you are more likely to be so.
Second, surprise brings joy and a teacher’s joy is contagious to children. It is like the saying, “When momma is happy, everybody is happy.” Teachers set the tone for their classroom and when a teacher is joyful, it makes it easier for all children to accept and appreciate their own joys. When a classmate says or does something that is unexpected, many children look to the teacher first to reinforce their response. Is it okay to laugh? Should I be shocked? Let yourself express your surprise and the joy it brings to you, and your students will be instructed by you once again.
Third, surprises in school take many forms. It can be a child who says something innocently or even wickedly funny that brings immediate laughter. Surprises arise when a child is just being a child full of surprises. Be prepared to laugh and smile and enjoy.
Classroom surprises are not magnificently extreme nor tangible. They are more like standing in front of the Old Faithful Geyser knowing that sooner rather than later it will erupt and already knowing what its eruption looks like. But still you are surprised and elated when the waters shoot to the sky.
So it is when a child who struggles with addition or balancing a chemical equation or performing a clear note on the trumpet does so and knows their success, be surprised and elated with that success. Your response will translate into immediate positive reinforcement for the child and promote the continuing struggle that is learning.
Lastly, learning and schooling are not easy for all children. Just being in school every day can be a personal effort. On top of that, reading and writing are not natural acts for humans like speaking and listening are. Mathematics is a foreign language to many. Science can seem unknowable. Making music come out of your mouth is magical. And children learn at differing rates and degrees. For these reasons, surprises always are on the classroom table. The fact that schooling and learning can be difficult makes the timing of its successes unpredictable. Hence, surprising.
The Big Duh!
We are given a tremendous gift when we teach children. They are raw talents and bundles of energy and each experiences their schooling and learning independently. A teacher who is ready to be surprised by children and knows how to express the joy of a good surprise not only enhances her own career but uplifts the lives of the children she teaches.