Today I was reminded why I teach

I teach 2nd grade in a small town in the US, where poverty is a major issue. <br><br>I had a student who is in my class for the 2nd year in a row (he was retained) ask me a question about a book we were reading. (We were discussing it as a class.) I was talking about the character and the student said something like, "you mean like me, my dad does _________." I realized that this student hadn't heard the word "like" used like that before. He looked at me in awe and said, "I didn't know you could use 'like' that way." I told him yes, it's called a simile. <br><br>I then asked the class if they knew what a simile was. 2/3 of my class said no. We then went on to discuss what a simile was and gave examples of similes. We then moved on to metaphors and a few other things. <br><br>After lunch a few of my students came to talk to me about similes and asked if we could practice making them. I told them of course we can. <br><br>I then had a few other students (5 total) ask me before they left to go home if we could do it again tomorrow. <br><br>To some this may seem silly, but it warmed my heart. I got to teach my students something new today. I got to see that light click today and that means everything to me. I didn't realize how much I missed teaching until today. <br><br>Edit: I am so overwhelmed, I am trying my best to respond to everyone. Thank you. <br><br>Also, I may have misspoken in saying 2/3. What I meant to say was only a few knew what a simile was. I will admit that I did exaggerate.