Tuesday through Friday were relatively normal days, and were very busy as usual. Everything is continuing to go well with my classes for the most part, and I'm getting more comfortable with the material and the students. It's very interesting and educating to interact with the students as they get to know me better, and continue to open up with me more. I've come to find that some of my students live in foster care, struggle with issues of alcoholic parents, live out of relative poverty, and then there are others who have entirely different struggles. It is ever-evident that as teachers we have to be able to individually and sensitively reach all of them without leaving anyone out. This is for me, as with all of you I'm sure, the biggest challenge. I'm reminded of the following quote from Donald D. Quinn:
"If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher's job"
It is an on-going, rich experience for me though, and I'm really taking a liking to teaching. Needless to say, there are still a few things I would change about this week. One of the major areas that I'm continuing to try to find balance before/after each lesson is, planning an adequate amount, but also not trying to fit too much into a lesson. I often try to get a large amount accomplished being that there is so much potential material for a subject like Personal Finance, (especially these days,) but in the process I have lost some students in the past, which I'm trying to avoid. In this respect, I might trim down some of the content so that I could go "deeper" in a few small areas. This is nothing major, and I feel as though it will come more naturally the more that I teach.
The most beneficial aspect of this week was probably a combination of attending the APL workshop as well as trying a few new techniques in my classes. These techniques include the way that I ask questions, the way I probe for answers, and also the general way that I try to involve the students in each lesson. It is certainly a great learning experience for me and I'm looking forward to the upcoming weeks.
I understand when you talk about the students and their circumstances. I have not yet written about this because I still struggle so much with it. I've learned many of the same sad, heart-wrenching stories about my students. And I look at them differently. I no longer see them as disruptive or not wanting to learn. I now look at them as being courageous survivors as they are still in school and trying. Some of them could drop out but they haven't; they still show up and try even if their efforts are not up to my expectations, I respect them for still being there. As I said, I struggle with this because there are so many sad stories where I'm at and I want to help them all. This was an excellent blog and a topic I know we'll be talking about more.
ReplyDeleteGetting to know your students is very important and I am glad that your students are now feeling free to discuss with you what really is happening in their lives. Since I have worked with so many students in the past years I know what you mean in regards to what they are going through in their own personal lives. These students bring with them so much every single day and we as teachers need to remember this. Good Luck! I know you care for them.
ReplyDeleteRich - Thank you for the quote. Wow! That "hits the nail on the head."
ReplyDeleteTeaching does bring us so much happiness while bringing us so much sadness when it comes to our students' personal challenges. Unfortunately, I don't see this changing in the very near future. We are certainly more than just their teachers....we are parents, advisers, counselors, psychologists, nurses, and more. To be everything to everyone and give each student what they truly need to be academically successful in the classroom is what a 21st century teacher is all about. You're finding all the "nooks and crannies" early in your profession. :)