Recognition

Today I received the first raise of my life, and I didn't even ask for it. I was informed by my private students' mother that the kids absolutely adored class time with me and so she and her husband had decided that they would like to pay me more from now on.

I was floored.

I know I'm good at what I do. I see it when the quiet kid in the class raises her hand when I take charge of the class. I see it when all 23 students do their workbook exercises after I spent ten minutes the previous week admitting to them I never did workbook exercises either, but explaining to them that if they put on good music and made it a game, they might actually learn a few cool things from it. I see it when they run up to me and gush about something that just happened, and I can see in their eyes they don't even realize anymore they're gushing about it in a foreign language. I see it when students from last year and last summer email me or txt me.

But this whole adults seeing it too thing? And being offered more money out of the blue? That's bewildering.

This whole time I felt like it was a secret between me and my kids. A secret adults could never be privy to. And I was okay with that. Watching the conspiratory grins on all the familiar young faces when I give examples on the board pertaining to zombies and narwhals. Watching the lightbulbs go off when I finally explain something in such a silly way that they all grasp it without realizing the actual difficulty behind the concepts. Watching them enjoying learning and - more than even that - watching the self confidence blossom in even the most timid. Teaching for me is a form of magic, and as far as I knew, the average grown up doesn't believe in magic.

So when the mom seemed to glimpse into the magical world of it all and come out of it not only praising me, but increasing my pay, it was enchanting. It'd be like somebody popping into Peter Pan's world and handing him some gold and telling him he was doing a great job flying around with small children! To be recognized like that for something I so adore and take so much pride in doing was an ineffable feeling. Maybe my talent isn't invisible after all. Maybe it's just beginning to take off.