" Play," "Fun," and "Happy" are exuberant words in MY DICTIONARY OF GOOD TEACHING
for a very good reason.  And, it's really simple.  Playful, fun, and happy teaching makes
me a child, a child at play, a child wondering, a child daring, and a child curious.  If
someone asked me what the aim of life is, I would answer that it is to become an adult
while remaining a child at heart.  I describe myself as an "experienced teenager."  When
someone asks my age, I tell them, "I'm 65 going on 8."  

	Play and fun and happy are the keys to life in general and teaching in particular.
When we play, when we have fun, and when we're happy, we will do things without
consideration of effort, time, or pay back.  When I teach, I am that child.  I am happy
doing it, I am playing at it, and I am having fun at doing it.  
	
	I can attest that life shrinks or expands in proportion to how much you are truly
having fun and how much you are truly happy.  When you're having fun, when you're happy,
when you're enjoying what you're doing, you've got a power and effectiveness to your
teaching.  When you're enjoying teaching, you're on your game; you're sharp as a razor
blade. You age with a youthfulness and creativity.  No empty, dead eyes.  No sullenness.
No shuffling along.  Life stays with you.  You're jazzed up.  The pizzazz is there.  The
neurons keep firing.  The flame keeps burning.  You keep growing.  It's fun and happiness
and play that makes me 65 going on 8.   That's why I always tell people that I'll retire
when teaching stops being fun.

	I'm not sure I know why the majority of us talk about the students and their
attitudes rather than about ourselves and our attitudes.  It's a crucial omission because
our misery or happiness depends on our attitudes, not on our circumstances or on others.
And, though we can't change reality around us, we can change our reality.  We can change
the eyes with which see reality and that new vision becomes our new reality.  So, enjoying
what you're doing depends on you than on your colleagues, students, or administrators.

	Want to have fun; you don't need anything more than the will to have fun.  You
want to be happy, and you need nothing more than choose to be happy.  Your attitude
controls whether or not you're going to have fun and enjoy yourself.  It's that simple and
that hard, but that meaningful.

	Part of my epiphany those many years ago was that I slowly discovered that as I
lived as if I was happy, I surprised myself.  I slowly became happy and did change my
reality.  I tell you from my experience that happiness is not a substitute for action.
It's not a free ride.  To have happiness in your heart is more than to merely wish. The
power of happiness comes from the deeply compelling effort and commitment it inspires.
Happiness is an indispensable ally when you've got to make the effort, take the time, and
rise to the challenges.  When we feel happy, our minds are open and expansive; when we're
open and expansive we feel happy. Happiness, then, is an updraft.   It makes us not only
feel better but be better - better able to forge fulfilling relationships, find meaningful
pursuits, and handle the vicissitudes of life. Happiness helps us stay healthy and whole
no matter what the circumstances. 

	I stand here as an example that if you can choose to bring the power of enjoyment
to bear on your teaching, you will.  And, if you find the ways to do it, I guarantee that
you'll be more creative, more loving, more hopeful, more encouraging, more empathetic,
more supporting, more believing, more imaginative, more pleasant to be around, more
accepting, more energetic, more positive, more resourceful, more likely to go outside your
walls, more of everything.  It often makes the difference in trying to make a difference.
It's significant if you care to be significant.

Make it a good day.
 
      --Louis--
 
 
Louis Schmier                                www.therandomthoughts.com
Department of History                    www.halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html
Valdosta State University
Valdosta, Georgia 31698                   /\   /\  /\            /\
(229-333-5947)                                /^\\/  \/  \   /\/\__/\ \/\
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                                                /\"If you want to climb mountains,\ /\
                                            _ /  \    don't practice on mole hills" -