How can we learn from what we do/teach?
I would wager that I've learned more this semester than my students. Teaching is a reflective practice. Often, the practice of teaching provides me with reflections I had yet to learn about myself.
For this semester I've learned students, like most people in life, respect honesty.
I've relearned the trials and struggles freshman encounter during their first semester of college. I had become too distant from those issues that I myself experienced one time.
I've learned that most of the writing skills I teach in class; I sometimes forget to do in my own papers.
I've learned that the kids that start to fall asleep at 8:00 in the morning are alert at 2:00 in the afternoon.
I've learned that students listen to my speech and watch my behavior and mannerisms more than I anticipated.
Most importantly though, I've learned I enjoy teaching and interacting with students. To be overly honest, I even enjoy teaching freshman composition. But what's more, I think my students know this too.
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4 comments:
I am so glad you've enjoyed teaching this semester. I miss being in the classroom so much! I'm encouraged by your honest approach to your students. I, too, have found that they respect honesty.
Nice post, Emily. Your conclusion is correct. Students will respond most to a teacher who is enthusiastic about the class and who obviously likes the students.
I'm looking forward to teaching with both expectation and anxiety. I'm ready to get in there and get rid of certain preconceived notions that I have, but I also know that I am going to make a fool of myself for 70% of the semester. Oh, well. It's a learning process.
I wish that I had been able to channel that same sort of enthusiasm. Maybe what I learned is that some people just have "it," and you only know it once you're giving it a shot.
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