I'll be honest with you - before I actually started my first year of teaching, I thought I would automatically be that teacher that you see in the movies. You know, the kind that goes into a class of misfits as a simple substitute teacher and in about a day and three quarters, the entire class is Harvard-bound. I can go ahead and tell you that it wasn't that easy and that didn't happen. I also didn't have a class of misfits, just for the record.
While it's true that I have my curriculum to cover during the year (every teacher knows that the standard course of study = Bible in a public school) I've decided to compile a list of only a fraction of the lessons I have learned from various nine year olds...perhaps you can benefit from their wisdom as well!
Say what you mean, and mean what you say.
Saying, "Honey, here's a tissue," to the student that is picking his nose will probably not effectively put an end to the nose-picking (see note on the term "honey" below). Most students will politely turn down the tissue and keep right on with their own method. Matters like this have helped me learn the value of straight talk. Also, if you tell a class of 24 to "whisper a couple minutes," you will more than likely hear about 8 or 9 students whispering the words, "a...couple...a...a couple minutes..." True story.
Terms of endearment are hardly ever endearing.
To walk down the hall and hear a teacher start a sentence with the word "Honey..." in a lovey-dovey tone is never a good sign. I've seen many an eye roll from the child that is called "sweetheart." Every student knows that in about 97% of all cases, pet names result in a command. "Honey, stop doing that." "Sweeeetie, don't look at him that way." In my head, all I hear is, "Honey, roll over! Who wants a treat? Good boy..." I mean, think about it!
A smile and nod will get you anywhere.
With twenty-four children in a classroom, let's face it: a teacher is bound to hear something ridiculous at least once a day, if not once an hour. Children have such different personalities, which is what makes teaching so much fun. When different students come to me, prefacing our conversation with, "can I tell you a story?" I always get a little excited to hear what they have to say. Some students may actually just tell a story: "I went to church on Sunday and sang a solo in front of everybody!" Fair enough. The ones that get me are, "Miss Coney, I was raised by wolves!" and "Miss Coney, I went to my neighbor's house last night and...(4 minutes later) well, no, actually it wasn't last night, it was two nights ago and we were eating ice cream...(6 minutes later) no it was Monday night and we were eating cake!" Those stories are the best ones, because those stories bring back memories of the little kid version of me. Every detail is life-changing, and the story would obviously mean nothing if the person you are talking to doesn't know the color of your friend's shirt. Sometimes all I can do is smile and say, "nice!" and children are wonderful because that is all they need to hear.
Laugh at everything or you'll cry over anything.
This is probably about the most important lesson I've learned in my short time teaching. Everyone's first year of teaching is overwhelming. There's a ton to learn, analyze, assess, and remember. Luckily, after the first year comes the second year and all of it becomes so much more natural. But before the second nature part comes, a first year teacher is faced with countless on-the-brink-of-tears moments. Rather than giving in and letting the tears flow, I decided that focusing on the more positive parts of my day would be far more effective than focusing on those potential breakdowns. Too many funny and wonderful things happen throughout the course of a day to concentrate on the bad things!
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