My Teacher Thought This First Day of School
Happy Resumption, everyone!
Yeah, school resumed today. Work began. It was good seeing the faces of students and colleagues who have been like family to me. Oh, I miss the holidays, but it’s good to be back.
I was one of the lucky few who started the resumption with classes. I actually had the first two periods of the day. I walked into a class of about ten students (the other half are yet to resume) and was engulfed in New Year hugs and pecks. Sweet, yeah? But, as expected, one child’s show of love went further. The child asked about my family, my parents, how I enjoyed the Christmas break, and if I travelled as I planned. The child went on to tell me how the parents were encouraged by the last school report and the goals planned for the year.
I have at least one every year.
The child I wish I could clone.
The kid that is so sweet, respectful, polite, works hard, helpful, gets along with their peers, an absolute delight!
Sigh, I truly wish I could clone them.
The ‘cloning’ thought has passed through my minds so many times in my teaching career.
But you know what? I would have a very boring classroom.
Each one of our students is an individual complete with their own idiosyncrasies. Love it or hate it, we have to accept them for who they are.
However, we do have the option of tweaking them. Not so much that they lose who they are, but enough so that they can be a positive influence in our classroom family.
There’s nothing wrong with trying to make the disrespectful, respectful; the needy, self-sufficient; the slacker, a hardworker.
As teachers, that’s part of our job. We can’t throw back the ones we don’t want, and we definitely can’t clone them (sigh). But we can work with what we’re given, and hopefully, make a difference!
Posted on January 5, 2015, in Chalkboard and tagged Children, clone, Education, resumption, students, Teaching. Bookmark the permalink. 16 Comments.
Ezar's Chronicles 
lol…I totally agree with you, Ezar. The thought has crossed my mind a lot of times…lol. But like u said, it would truly be a boring class.
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Hehehehehehe. Hilarious. Imagine having only A+ students in your class, who are always well behaved and well mannered. haaaaa. It is a perfect setting. Teaching will be stressless but at some point it will eventually lose its value, i think. Happy Resumption to you too, ezar. I don’t have classes today but I am excited about the term.
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True, we cant have all the students in our class as A students. But like u said, its up to us to work on the weak students to make them better. For weak students the teacher must appreciate him/her even if he gets little achievement and instilll in him confidence so that he can do the best.
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Funny one. To add to what you have said; it is important for teachers to treat all students as equal whether they are bright students or they are weak. yes sometimes we may pay a bit less attention to the brighter student as he can do all by himself and pay some more attentions to the weaker students so that all the students become equal. all of them come first and no one should come second. So as a teacher we should pay weaker students more attention, should guide them through the path of difficulty so that they can overcome it and be successful as bright students.
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Some students seem naturally enthusiastic about learning, but many, especially the weak students, need-or expect-their instructors to inspire, challenge, and stimulate them. Also, praise builds students’ self-confidence, competence, and self-esteem. Recognize sincere efforts even if the product is less than stellar. If a student’s performance is weak, let the student know that you believe he or she can improve and succeed over time. Nice post. Thought provoking.
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Many of today’s parents and educators have grown up in an atmosphere where heaping abundant amounts of praise on students is expected to reinforce motivation and learning. If you still believe it is essential for you to tell your kids or your pupils things like “You’re the best”, “You can do it” and “You’re a winner”, you are very wide of the mark. A pupil who fails to grasp a subject will not believe exaggerated praise. The pupil has so little self-esteem that he or she will see through the praise and find it hollow and unconvincing. Then the encouragement has the opposite effect.
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Noted. Thanks.
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Since we have all agreed that we can’t clone, then teachers must provide students with an environment that is conducive to learning. If a student feels uncomfortable, unsafe, or not respected, then their chances of success in that class dramatically decrease. Also, as our society becomes more diverse, it is important that students learn to value and use diversity to the greater good. Teachers already have a number of roles in the classroom; yet, valuing diversity is one of the most important ones a teacher must fill
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Happy Resumption to you too. And a happy new year to everyone here. Thanks for this post and thanks to the commenters. I am yet to resume. Next week. I like the tips Im getting here. I strive to be a better teacher this year. I hope you write more on your teaching experience, Ezar. God bless.
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In my class, what often happens is that some smart students do problems faster than other students. And they are actually going well ahead of my course plan. While I am teaching to other students a certain chapter, they are doing the next chapter to it. And in the meantime, while I am guiding the weak students, they ask me the question which they find difficult to do from the next section.
I kind of find that thing disturbing. They are calling me all the time and I am unable to give my time to other students. What should I do in this situation? Should I tell them to stop going ahead of me? If I tell them so, what other things can I tell them to do while I am teaching the weak students?
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Whatever you do, please don’t discourage being ahead. If you see someone going ahead seemingly unchallenged, give him/her a challenging problem to tackle (maybe from somewhere other than the book) while you help the other students. That should keep them busy while also teaching them something, without hurting your chances at those who are falling behind
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I don’t think it’s fair to tell the students to not read ahead. In fact, I’d encourage it. What you should make clear is that the material in the current section takes precedence, and if somebody else has a question on the current material you’ll sadly have to help those people before the questions on the next section.If a weaker student is raising their hand, even if you’re in the middle of explaining the more advanced topic, simply ask the weaker student if it’s about the current material. If it is, just say “sorry, I have to get this question first, hold on to your thought.” Then get back to him when you are done.
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NIce post @Ezar. @teacherMy experience is that students that are ahead, and most importantly, asking questions too – are more likely to be in the position to be both independent learners, and able to take on peer-to-peer tasks related to teaching and learning.This leads to a few options which might include:
1.Use the advanced students to help the slower students too, thus increasing the overall speed that the class is mastering new concepts.
2.Require the more advanced students to ask a peer for help and then have them confirm the the answer reached was correct with you; if they’re unable to reach an answer, clearly you’d help too.
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Cool post. Happy new year and happy resumption, Ezar.
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Cloning all of them will definitely make the class boringghghgg… I so agree with you maam….welcome back to school..have a great term filled with effective and efficient teaching..
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True.
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