EDU 6949-Internship Week 2
After the second week as an official full time student teacher, I have had a lot of practice with the math lessons, and have started working with individual students on revising some paragraphs for a social studies project. The math lessons are pretty straight forward and it’s easy to follow them using the teacher’s manual. So most of my memorable interactions have been working one-on-one with students revising and editing their work. They have been working for the last three weeks, researching their own very specific topic. It was so rewarding to see them SO engaged with their work. With a few students, I spent several minutes having in depth conversations about what they were researching, what they found interesting, how they found their information etc. It was very surprising to me how easily conversation flowed between me and the students. I didn’t feel like I had to “dumb down” the conversation, but instead felt like I could carry an almost grown up discussion with a few of the students.
These interactions have helped me realize the kinds of characteristics that I want in my future classroom. I want my students to look at me as a resource to help them further their learning–I want them to feel that I am more than just someone who tells them what to do during the day and pass out homework at the end of the day. I want to have interactions that reinforce a cooperative, understanding, calm, learning environment where they are free to express themselves.
Learning to be a co-learner with kids on a nearly equal footing actually elevates you in their eyes. Those one-on-one exchanges forge solid, lasting, caring relationships. They also act like money in a bank, which can be withdrawn later if needed in a heavy duty disciplinary situation with a child. If you have “earned credit” because of past interactions, you’ll face lots less “back talk” or hostility when you have to impose a consequence at a later occasion. David