How can I teach when I have to spend so much time not teaching?

You are a teacher, but some days can find you doing a variety of tasks that seem unrelated to your vocation as a teacher/disciple. It may be playground duty, bus duty, or being moderator of one of the school’s many co-curricular activities, or assisting with a sports team. It may be giving a report to a parish/diocesan group.

“Duties as assigned” can seem overwhelming. And yet each of these is also a teachable moment – not always for your own students, but for other students and adults. You can be teaching, no matter what the duty is.

Think about the people you encounter during each “duty” – a student on the playground, a member of the club or activity you supervise, the parent who comes late to the meeting. What might be going on in their lives? What might a smile or a compliment or a sincere “how are you?” combined with a listening ear do to make their day better? Your attentiveness to each person is a witness; it can affect how the people you touch with kindness live the rest of their day – and whether they pass the kindness on to another. The world can be a better place depending on how you do your “other duties as assigned”.

To Do: Pick one duty to focus on, and decide what you want to teach as you fulfill your responsibility.

To Pray: Jesus, you often had so much to do, and you taught us to do everything with love. May I always remember this lesson! Amen.