One of the most important things I’d like to keep in mind for the future is that how much getting to know the students and showing that you care and that they matter can positively affect them. First of all, getting to know your students both on a personal level and an educational level is very important. It’s about putting in that extra effort and reaching out to them instead of simply going to school, standing at the front of the room, teaching your lesson and going home. You need to know not only what interests your students but how they best learn information. When we heard from the panel of students, one talked about how he played basketball and a teacher he had made some connections to the sport, which he liked. He also liked working on packets, while another student hated them. As a teacher, knowing that a student likes basketball is just as important as what materials they like working on the best. Everyone likes talking about things they like and things they are passionate about, so making personal connections for each student to help them learn can have such an impact on them. I also love the story Ms. G told about reaching out to a particular student who did not like to read. She could have easily settled for believing he struggled, always would struggle and that was that. But instead, she reached out to him and showed that she believed in him and that she cared and that made all the difference. But as Principal J mentioned, there is a line between sympathy and empathy. You do not want to pity your students and make things terribly easy for them. You want to be understanding, but you also want to have expectations. You want to help them meet those expectations and let them know that you truly believe they can get there. From going to District C every week, I have seen that for the most part, students want to learn. They want to do well and succeed and go on to do great things, but they need to be challenged, supported, cared for and believed in. And I think this goes for students everywhere as well, not just in District C. If teachers show an interest in their students and make every single one of them feel special and important and confident, they are already doing a huge part of their job.
Another important thing I learned is
the relationship between parents and teachers. They both want the best for
their child/student and working together will be a lot more beneficial for
everyone than if they never communicated at all. A lot of teachers probably say
they want to have a relationship with parents and communicate with them, but
how many of those teachers only communicate when the child is in trouble or
doing something wrong? And how many of those teachers try to involve parents
but then do what they want anyway? Working with the parents of your students,
like in any relationship, requires both sides to listen and take in the
opinions and ideas of the other. A relationship between a parent and child will
be different than the relationship between the teacher and that same child and
both sides can learn so much from each other and ultimately help the student in
the best way possible.
There are so many factors that go into being a teacher. Many of these factors are things that I never quite thought of before coming into this class. I always knew I would care about students and that I wanted them to learn, but this class gave me more insight into how I would go about doing that. The same goes for working with parents. It’s easy to say “Of course I’d involve parents!” but as I mentioned, it can be just as easy to hear what they say without really listening. I also think that there are many people out there who think that being a teacher is easy. Because what could be so hard about relaying information to a group of people? Because everyone learns the same, right? Because everyone is going to be on the same reading level or speak the same language. Because everyone is always going to be having a wonderful day and have nothing else on their mind besides schoolwork. And teachers have weekends and vacations and summers, right? They go into school in the morning and go home when school is over, don’t they? A lot of people don’t realize how much time, effort and planning goes into teaching. It’s the profession that everyone feels they can do, but not everyone can do. I’ve wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember and there were so many details and techniques I learned this semester that I never even thought of before. I learned how to show students we care and how to get them engaged and involved. I learned the difference between sympathy and empathy and to always have expectations and standards for them, but to also help them get there and make them believe they can. I learned about not only saying you want a relationship with the parents but what exactly a relationship means and how to achieve that. Visiting District C every week has given me so many perspectives on learning and teaching from so many different people and I can honestly say that it was one of the most interesting and wonderful experiences I’ve ever had and I’m so glad I got to do it.
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