Sunday, November 2, 2008
Gaining the student's respect
Making the transition from student teacher to teacher teacher can make it difficult to earn the respect of the students. Even if my cooperating teacher or I tell the students that I will be the teacher by the end of the year, I still don't think they understand. For example, the other day I lead the PACE afterschool program after our class field trip, and the students were not listening, out of control to the point where I had to turn off the lights and have them put their heads down. I think my mistake was that I gave them some slack because I knew they were tired from the field trip, but they took advantage of that and didn't think they needed to listen to me. It is hard to find the balance between being the student teacher who it trying to be nice and win the affection of the students, and being the teacher who needs the students to respect her and realize that she is the classroom teacher as well. I wonder if I am not being stern enough or consistent enough.
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These are very appropriate wonderings...and I believe that every educator faces this dilemna lots of times - even experienced teachers.
The essential part is when we continue to reflect and ask ourselves "What didn't go well and what could I do next time to support children's learning with more success?" (and it's wonderful that we aren't blaming the students nor excusing them from making inappropriate choices) Yikes, does that make sense? What I am trying to say is that in situations like the one you described we can learn to be transparent with our students. "Yes, we've had a busy, exciting day. And now it's time to make adjustments to our routine and remember that how we treat each other and the choices we make are still very important." Sometimes, when we're tired and I have a cranky edge to my voice I'll just apologize and say let's come close and I'll read to them or tell them a story until things calm down.
PS: Corinne, I want to commend you for even "taking on" the PACE class that day and you should be proud of your determination for "diving into" this internship, taking risks that will certainly help prepare you as a teacher! Sincerely, Joyce
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