I’ve always loved working with children. They bring more joy to my life than anyone else, and they always find a way to brighten my day. They are so honest and pure, what isn’t there to love about them? It’s always made sense to me to become a teacher so I can give back to them for a living, but I don’t think that I really understood what it would be like until my VIPS tutoring.
Most of the time I felt like I was more of a teacher than a tutor. These students did not understand concepts that they should to be doing their work. One area that really stood out with this is math. Lucky for my I am in math for elementary school teachers this semester, so all the rules are fresh in my mind. I was helping some of the students with their homework one day when I realized I could do more than explain to them how to do this problem way out of left field, I could use that I’ve learnt to help them. Explaining addition and subtraction algorithms gave me more of a rush than I could have ever believed. Seeing the students actually understand what they were doing for the first time made me feel better than I think I ever have before. I knew then that it really was my destiny to be a teacher because it’s the career that would truly make me the happiest.
One thing that I’ve always been nervous about them it came to teaching is how I would be as a disciplinary action. I’ve always had a hard time with that part, I wasn’t sure if my students would take me seriously or listen to me. Would they end up walking all over me because I’m too nice? But do I want to be too mean? It’s always been very confusing to me, and I think that is because every teacher needs to have their own style of discipline.
One of the students in my original classroom was a particularly hard kid to deal with. He didn’t do anything that was asked of him and wouldn’t give anyone the time of day. You may remember him from my first post, he tried to steal the ring right off my finger during my first session. He ended up becoming something of an experiment to me, wondering if I could get him to behave. One day when he was giving the other kids a hard time I asked him what was wrong, why he couldn’t just be nice to everyone else. He responded that no one else is ever nice to him, so why should he be? I told him that I’d be nice to him as long as he listened to his teachers and did what he was supposed to. Surprisingly, he was like putty in my hands for the rest of my time there. I think my personal style is nice, while letting the kids know you refuse to take any of their crap. And also, this student showed me once again why I love children. There is no such thing as a bad child. They may be confused or misunderstood or in need of some guidance to be on the right path, but they are always good of heart. I want to be able to help as many students of possible find their path in life.
Hey Tanna! When you talk about what kind of teacher you want to be, well, that is something I had asked myself many times. I don’t want my students to walk all over me and not have them give me any respect, but at the same time I don’t want to be mean and be the teacher that kids hate. I want to be the teacher who my students grow up and remember because I made a difference in their life. Going back to my years when I was in elementary school, I remember exactly what teachers were always there for me. I also remember those teachers who gave me a hard time for no reason.
ReplyDeleteYou’re completely right when you say there is “no bad child.” There must be a reason why the child is acting up. There is always a story behind everything. Sometimes digging deeper helps you understand the child. I like the way you handled the situation with the kid who was misbehaving. Not only did you get to know him a little better but you made an effort to help change him and encourage him to do better.
Some kids need a little more attention than others, and when I become a teacher, I want to be the teacher who helps the students get through their difficulties and not just push them aside or send them to the principal’s office. I feel like those teachers who push their students aside because they misbehave in the class aren’t helping their students at all, but allowing them to call out for more attention. I want to take action on the situation and not ignore the situation because ignoring the situation will only make the matter worse.