Quite a few things actually make me nervous, and most of them have earned that status through repeated experience.
Technology is near the top of the list — especially technology I need immediately. If something works perfectly all day and then freezes the moment I have one important thing to submit, project, upload, or print, my confidence drops fast. Few things create instant anxiety like a spinning circle on a screen while you silently negotiate with machinery that has no conscience.
Students can do it too, especially when one approaches my desk and begins with, “So… quick question…” That phrase has almost never led to a quick question. It usually means they are about to explain why something assigned three weeks ago should still somehow count today because they were “going through a lot,” which often turns out to mean they forgot.
Silence in a classroom can also make me nervous, depending on the kind of silence. There’s peaceful silence, where people are actually working. Then there’s suspicious silence — the kind where instinct tells you somebody in the back has discovered a new way to misuse a student laptop, or has quietly decided this is the ideal moment to make a TikTok under the bold assumption that a teacher with functioning eyesight will somehow miss it.
I also get nervous when someone says my name slowly from another room. Nobody has ever stretched out “Doooug…” to announce good news. That tone usually means something has broken, spilled, failed to start, or escaped.
And if my phone rings unexpectedly, especially from an unknown number, my mind immediately assumes either bad news, bureaucracy, or someone trying to sell me a warranty for a vehicle I no longer own.
Oddly enough, success can make me nervous too. If several things go right in a row, part of me starts waiting for the plot twist. Life conditions you that way after a while. You begin to suspect calm weather is simply intermission.
At this point, I’ve learned nervousness is often just experience reminding you that life has a sense of humor and occasionally likes surprise entrances. In other words, what makes me nervous is anything that begins with, “This will only take a minute.”
Very interesting reading!
It’s funny how “quick question” and ” this will only take a minute” usually pan out. 😃
Rattlesnakes make me nervous.
I’m guessing you don’t have to deal with those in a school environment 🙂