Listen! Mute Your Mic

I love the profession of teaching. I have always wanted to be a teacher since the age of six. I remember going to work with my momma and sitting in the back of the classroom watching her teach 25 second-graders at Brunswick Elementary School located in Gary, Indiana. She would stand in front of the classroom, teach the students, and make sure that they were doing their assignments. I would think to myself what a noble calling to be an educator. 

Well, my dream came true and 27 years later, I am still in the teaching profession. And, by the way, I am loving it just as much as the first day that I walked into the classroom to teach first grade. I will always remember my first day of school in Palm Beach County Schools in West Palm Beach, Florida. It was filled with so much joy and excitement. I remember smiling ear to ear, happy that I was now a licensed teacher in the state of Florida.

I am now a first-grade teacher in Atlanta Public Schools. Distance learning has been a challenge for parents, students, and myself. However, we work together and make it work, and for that, I am grateful. 

One phrase that I often find myself saying when I am teaching my students is, “MUTE your mic.” I always have to remind my students. I have to make sure that when they come in and join Zoom, that they come in on MUTE. When they don’t come in on mute, I am able to hear all the background noise. I find myself always telling them to please stay on mute while I am teaching. I constantly remind them of this expectation.

As I was teaching my first graders, I thought about this word, mute, and what it means; one of its many definitions. Mute means to refrain from speech, be silent. When I am teaching, it is of great importance that my students mute their mics. They need to be able to hear me and receive instruction in all subject areas during our time together online. If they talk while I am teaching, they will miss out on learning the state standard and my instruction. They won’t be able to do the assignment correctly and will not do well on the test. 

God calls us to listen and heed His voice. He wants us to mute our mics and listen for his instruction(s). He wants to teach us and give us instructions that are for our good. He wants to guide, lead, and direct us. These instructions can be ones that relate to our financial, relational, professional, spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being. For me, this means not watching tv so much. Instead, I can spend time in His word and write in my devotional journal. It also means saying no to things that I am not led to do. It may also mean taking a break from social media for a while to get focused and listen to Him speak.

John 10:27 says… My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me.

Are you able to hear and listen to the Holy Spirit? Listening requires more than just an awareness. It requires us to be intentionally focused. He wants to instruct us. In what way(s) can you mute your mic? Listen up, He’s speaking!