I see myself as a very relaxed person and it usually takes a lot for something to rile me and this first week of Level II teaching experience was no different. I went in with the best intentions, rolled up my sleeves, and jumped right in to the flow of my class. It really doesn't take long for someone, or at least it shouldn't, to identify and feel the groove of the class. Right away I could see I had some of those typical rowdy boys and girls in the class but a quote that I heard recently says that if you only can see what is bad then it is a direct reflection of yourself. You have to opportunity rather than opposition. That is my goal for now and forever to understand my students rather condemn them. We were all in there shoes at one point in our lives and we can't expect them to perform at our level of thinking or maturity.
Thus far, after only two days of classes I can say that I know 95% of my students' names. All that I want to do these first few weeks is to develop a relationship with them so that I can better teach them. As of now it is going along swimmingly. The only things that I am worried about is maintaining authority and control in the classroom to guide their discussion but I know that I will have be patient with all of these students.
Today our classes discussed the Emmett Till tragedy while exploring the concepts of prejudice, discrimination, racism, and hate crimes. I was glad to see that my class, which was primarily made up of a mix of all races, didn't just list of examples of discrimination done unto them by another race, but rather discrimination done unto other genders, sexual orientations, and classes. It was so cool because went against my own stereotypes of teenagers, that they are all self-oriented. This field experience will be very moving for all parties.
Hi Jonathan,
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I really enjoyed our conversation today and left both excited and puzzled - both good signs, I think! Not only has it been great to see you really pushing yourself to learn students' names and build relationships with them, it was great to hear you begin to sort out the kind of teacher you want to be and the type of classroom environment you want to create. A question-based or issued-focused classroom aligns very much with my own teaching philosophy, and I'm excited to continue to work together on things like classroom discussion and motivation.
Sounds like you saw a great piece of this during the Emmett Till lesson. I love that the students surprised you with their examples of discrimination. What wonderful food for thought for a future lesson, perhaps???
Continue to see the best in your students and give them opportunities to explore what you love about language arts. These opportunities will come. And know that while we can't expect kids to always think the way we do, we can create a classroom that gives them opportunities to surprise us with their perspectives, their thinking, and their creativity - a classroom where you learn as much from your students as they learn from you is what it's all about.