Effort and Pleasure

"What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure."
Johnson (quoted in Seward's Biographiana, found in Johnsonian Miscellanies, edited by G.B. Hill)

As I come to the end of my six weeks of student teaching at Beacon Christian School in a Grade 7/8 class, I have been reflecting on this quote by Samuel Johnson.

I saw this quote on a wall in the Writing Centre of Redeemer University College. It reminded me as a student that professors would much rather read work that I had really worked at.

Now I begin to find myself on the other side of the equation. Now I am becoming the teacher instead of the student; however, I am not really completely one or the other yet. As I grow into the role of teacher, this quote is beginning to take on new meaning.

I am beginning to realize that students will not put effort into their work unless the learning is meaningful. I am realizing this more and more each day. If teachers are willing to make the material mean something to students, they are usually more than willing to make the effort to do their best.

It is easy for teachers to just give handouts and assignments that do not take much effort. We can use the same material year after year, and it becomes a teaching of the curriculum instead of the student.

Johnson still speaks to me, reminding me that “what is generally assigned by teachers without effort is generally done by students without pleasure.”