I haven't really felt moved to participate in the most recent Blog Hops, but today's is pretty fun. The idea is to simply ask your readers a question that they can respond to through commenting. It's a great way to get to know readers better! Since a good portion of my readers are teachers, and a good portion of my blog content is about teaching, I thought my question(s) should be related to teaching as well.
So here it is:
What is the toughest challenge that you face as a teacher and how do you deal with/respond to it?
I think one of my toughest challenges is not being able to understand where every student/family is coming from. I would like to be able to teach all students in a way that is meaningful based on their backgrounds and personal experiences, yet I don't always have the background knowledge myself to draw upon. I have worked with several families living in poverty and given the life that I have been privileged to lead, I am certain that I am not completely understanding of some of the issues these students and their families are going through. I am also now working with students in Germany who have seen a lot more of the world than I have. They come from countries and cultures that I may know nothing about. I am interested and willing to learn, yet one person cannot experience everything that every student has experienced in order to help them foster connections. I guess this is where learning from the students and relying on them to share knowledge and expertise while encouraging them to think critically and make connections comes in. I am working hard, especially in my current studies, to think about what other perspectives students and their families might have. I might not know outright, but I can certainly ask and learn from what they share with me. I want to have all the answers, but I think an essential part of educating a diverse group of students is not having all the answers, rather finding the answers through the process of teaching the students and learning from them as well.
If you are not a teacher, but a parent, I have another question:
What is something a teacher did for you or your child that you will never forget?
Looking forward to reading what you have to say!
8 comments:
Wow, I haven't participated in a blog hop in forever - this IS a good one!
When I was teaching I was a music teacher, a "specialist." Unfortunately in the school I was in "specialist" was interchangeable with "glorified babysitter." No exaggeration there, I wish it was. I got no support from teachers at all and only heard from them if I was not at my room so they could drop the little cherubs off to me at the precise minute they were supposed to, yet it was absolutely fine to be late picking them up (which resulted in me being behind for the next class... a vicious circle).
That was difficult and so was the favoritism. That is always hard, unless you are the favorite, of course.
I always told my friends and colleagues (the ones I could trust) that it was painful to work in a place where the students sometimes acted more maturely than the adults. It is amazing how petty and juvenile adults can act in a toxic environment.
Great question! I am interested to see what other answers you get.
Currently, I am finishing up my student teaching so I have not been in the classroom very long. So far the biggest challenge I see is students not getting the opportunity to be responsible. Too often parents come in and try to take the blame off the child. Students need to learn that sometimes we do things that we shouldn't, but there are consequences to those actions.
Unfortunately I was an awful student (never in class, skipped school) But I did love English! I loved poems and stories (if I didn't have to read them) I loved to write! I can't remember the teachers name but I guess she always thought that I had some kind smarts. She would always stay on me and even see me walking down the hall and hand me my assignments (which I would do and later leave on her desk) I made a B in that class and did the work but was never there. She was so kind and soft spoken and never one of those people that said you are a failure and get out. Which teaching in Miami she could have! I did eventually drop out and got my GED. MaMa always says there will be things you regret, I do! I wish I could got back to school now for the whole experience!
We face so many challenges as teachers I don't how to pick one. Besides trying to figure out how to motivate each student mine is getting past the mental block students and parents have made about Math. I always hear "I'm bad at Math" or from parents "I was always bad at Math." Don't say that in front of your children b/c they set themselves up the same way!
Knowing WHO my students are individually has been the hardest thing for me, because then I feel the pressure of meeting their needs using their strengths. Those strengths are so different from student to studnet in a room that sometimes I feel like I need to make 22 different sets of plans. THEN, when/how do I teach it all differently?
I have realized that I am only one person, and I have to offer as much variety and choice as I can without making me insane! So that is what I do...
AND, I finally realized that I do not have to grade EVERYTHING!!!
paige
My favorite and best teachers treated us like we were adults, more like boss and underlings more than adult and child. It was the fact that we were given that respect that made us want to give it back, and helped us succeed the most!
I think the most challenging thing I am facing right now is getting the children to care about their learning. Sure they are only 9 but that curiosity is already gone. They are so used to being spoon fed ALREADY that it worries me and frustrates me. I just want to see them be motivated by their interest in knowing and therefore putting in an effort into what they are doing.
Can I pick 2?
My #1 challenge has always been managing behavior. I have tried every trick in the book, and I 've tried building classroom community etc and still there have been probably 4 or 5 kids over the course of 4 years that I just did NOT know what to do with (neither did grade 1, 2 etc but I still hate it). It's so much more enjoyable to teach when the kids are being at least relatively well behaved. I wish the kids could see that their OWN school experience would be better if they did the right thing! I also have a lot of parents blaming me, or other children instead of dealing with the fact that their own kid is not given enough responsibility or consequence etc- that always makes it worse.
#2- the idea that every single second of the day I need to be meeting the needs of every single one of my kids. sorry- its completely impossible, I cannot meet in a small group with ALL of my low kids AND figure out what I am going to do with my kids reading 2 or 3 grades ahead. I try...but it doesnt' always happen, and the whole expectation that I should do that is really ridiculous in my opinion.
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