Just a short one.
I was thinking today about why I chose to be secondary instead of elementary, because I really love the little ones. But I decided that I really can't deal with the emotional aspect of kids, because most of their feelings are irrational and their peers are not a support system for them yet. Sure, they'll go and tell the teacher when one kids pushes their friend, but they will not necessarily be able to tell another kid not to worry about what another kid said to them, like "You have cooties."
But in secondary education, kids have friends who act as semi-consistent support systems. I mean, not every kid does, but many do. I feel like I'm not explaining this well, but I think it helps students stay more grounded than they would otherwise, especially in a public school system where kids seem to be much more volatile, rather than being home schooled or something. Drama factor.
Imagine being a homeless student who moves around a lot and needs support and has trouble making friends for fear that their secret will come out, or that they will be embarrassed, or that they will be forced to move again and lose their friends. I think it's really important for the adults in their lives to stay consistent. We're not going to be their best friends, but they should be able to rely on us for help if they need it.
Anyway, just some thoughts.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Brittany, especially as you try to make sense of your studies and other experiences like the phone conversation with the NY students we had in class the other day, I think that your "take away" about this vital aspect of a teacher's role is as important as anything I can think of. It's takes practice to get there for us, and it also takes laying some groundwork to establish trust with our students, which is more about what we do than what we say (though what we say out loud, and the topics we open up constitute really important teacher work). Getting it to where it's "about our kids" as much as possible is a most worthy goal, Brittany...good for you.
ReplyDelete