Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach.
And those who make up silly ass proverbs like this one can kiss my hairy ass crack. I love to teach. It affirms my existence on this planet. Recently, I was observed by my boss, and she had the nerve to give me some "feedback". Don't get me wrong, I love it when people observe me, so they can see me in my natural element. I also like having people give me constructive criticism, to a point. As long as it's valid. But this chick asked me to stop using "you guys" to refer to the class, and instead use "boys and girls" or "children". Who da fuck am I? Mary friggin Poppins?
Then she suggests to me to use positive reinforcement, and to call on students who aren't raising their hand to involve everyone. She observed me for an hour. One whole hour. You can't get a proper taste of a cake without cutting out a big piece. Are you kidding, I'm the king of positive reinforcement! And those kids I was teaching was a group of sophisticated private school 5th graders who don't respond too well to more elementary teaching techniques.
I love my job, but I swear the paperwork, observations, meeting minutes, etc. are ridiculously unnecessary. I didn't get into teaching to do documentation, fool! But I do love da kids, as Trick Daddy says. I had one of the greatest days of teaching last week, when I did a 3 hour presentation at Morello Park Elementary in Martinez. It was a group of 20 2nd graders who was taught by a 36-year veteran teacher. She instantly made me feel welcome in her classroom, and allowed me to take over completely. She also helped with the activities, as well as keeping some kids in line. But it was quite unneccesary, because these kids were so well-behaved, that I didn't even have to prompt anyone once! And these were 2nd graders. Whatever magic that teacher was using worked like a charm.
It's not magic. It's good classroom management. I left the class telling the students that this was the best class I've taught in all year. Two days later, I get a package in the mail from the teacher. Within it were letters from the entire class telling me how nice a teacher I was, how much they learned, how thankful they were, etc. And the teacher even wrote a touching little note, saying that I had a "nice way with the kids" and "good classroom management". How sweet, coming from a 36-year vet who would retire at the end of the year. I wonder what I can do to thank her and the class for their kindness. Should I send a card back? Should I send a photo collage? Too bad I didn't take any pictures in their class.
She also included in her note, "You have a long career in education ahead of you". I hope so, because I'm not ready to strip for a living. Gotta get rid of the lovehandles first.
Then she suggests to me to use positive reinforcement, and to call on students who aren't raising their hand to involve everyone. She observed me for an hour. One whole hour. You can't get a proper taste of a cake without cutting out a big piece. Are you kidding, I'm the king of positive reinforcement! And those kids I was teaching was a group of sophisticated private school 5th graders who don't respond too well to more elementary teaching techniques.
I love my job, but I swear the paperwork, observations, meeting minutes, etc. are ridiculously unnecessary. I didn't get into teaching to do documentation, fool! But I do love da kids, as Trick Daddy says. I had one of the greatest days of teaching last week, when I did a 3 hour presentation at Morello Park Elementary in Martinez. It was a group of 20 2nd graders who was taught by a 36-year veteran teacher. She instantly made me feel welcome in her classroom, and allowed me to take over completely. She also helped with the activities, as well as keeping some kids in line. But it was quite unneccesary, because these kids were so well-behaved, that I didn't even have to prompt anyone once! And these were 2nd graders. Whatever magic that teacher was using worked like a charm.
It's not magic. It's good classroom management. I left the class telling the students that this was the best class I've taught in all year. Two days later, I get a package in the mail from the teacher. Within it were letters from the entire class telling me how nice a teacher I was, how much they learned, how thankful they were, etc. And the teacher even wrote a touching little note, saying that I had a "nice way with the kids" and "good classroom management". How sweet, coming from a 36-year vet who would retire at the end of the year. I wonder what I can do to thank her and the class for their kindness. Should I send a card back? Should I send a photo collage? Too bad I didn't take any pictures in their class.
She also included in her note, "You have a long career in education ahead of you". I hope so, because I'm not ready to strip for a living. Gotta get rid of the lovehandles first.
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