johnny depp's done better
A couple days ago I went to visit the childcare center at Evergreen, to examine the little rugrats and report on their behavior for my class. It was immediately obvious to me that I had not really spent any time with a group of children for a number of years... I pretty much just literally sat there and watched them play, making notes in my journal. When it was time to go outside on the playground, some of them wanted me to push them on the tire swing. Apparently I greatly underestimated a 4-year-old's tolerance for high, fast spinning, as they explicitly let me know.
So I've forgotten how to play with children. In fact, I never knew how to play with children even when I was a child, so I guess I can't really be expected to know now. (However I do remember in high school I taught kindergarterners how to make little wax torture victims puppets). But my conversations with children have always been interesting, and that's what I was specifically studying anyway.
I've been looking at what classes I'd be interested in in the future, and I'm feeling more and more turned off by education and "so you want to be a teacher" type classes, which is making me fear more and more enrolling in a Master in Teacher program. Since I already felt 50/50 about it, it seems I'm leaning away from doing it.
But this brings up the question of what is important. And what is important to me. I have enormous intellectual capacity ego potential- but it's too diffuse, too spread out to really make a difference in any single area. I'm too flighty for that anyway. My question at this point is whether I want to go into the world of the child, inspiring the next generation through direct teaching; or whether I want to go into the "adult" world, inspiring the next generation through a medium of text or film or sculpture or whatever the ! I end up doing (where "!" represents the high-pitched squeak you make when pursing your lips together and blowing air up into your nose).
Yeah, I know I can do that stuff during the summers when I'm not teaching, but what I am questioning at this point is whether I can even relate to the kids I'm teaching. I originally thought I could. My entire philosophy while I was growing up was "remember what this is like, what my parents and teachers are doing that I like, and what they're doing wrong, and what they should be doing that they're not, because keeping all this in mind when I get to be that age will be invaluable." I have so many ideas about teaching kids science. But I'm not convinced it's enough. I worry that I'm too much of a space cadet to be able to reach out to these kids on a gut level (because I worry that I'm too much of a space cadet to reach out to anyone at any age).
I watched "Finding Neverland" tonight, which really revisited these issues I've been struggling with. Am I going to be a grown-up, as I am now, or do I learn how to be a child? Can I be both successfully? (If not,) how well can children sense that an adult is trying to relate to them, but he's really off in his own world?
So I've forgotten how to play with children. In fact, I never knew how to play with children even when I was a child, so I guess I can't really be expected to know now. (However I do remember in high school I taught kindergarterners how to make little wax torture victims puppets). But my conversations with children have always been interesting, and that's what I was specifically studying anyway.
I've been looking at what classes I'd be interested in in the future, and I'm feeling more and more turned off by education and "so you want to be a teacher" type classes, which is making me fear more and more enrolling in a Master in Teacher program. Since I already felt 50/50 about it, it seems I'm leaning away from doing it.
But this brings up the question of what is important. And what is important to me. I have enormous intellectual capacity ego potential- but it's too diffuse, too spread out to really make a difference in any single area. I'm too flighty for that anyway. My question at this point is whether I want to go into the world of the child, inspiring the next generation through direct teaching; or whether I want to go into the "adult" world, inspiring the next generation through a medium of text or film or sculpture or whatever the ! I end up doing (where "!" represents the high-pitched squeak you make when pursing your lips together and blowing air up into your nose).
Yeah, I know I can do that stuff during the summers when I'm not teaching, but what I am questioning at this point is whether I can even relate to the kids I'm teaching. I originally thought I could. My entire philosophy while I was growing up was "remember what this is like, what my parents and teachers are doing that I like, and what they're doing wrong, and what they should be doing that they're not, because keeping all this in mind when I get to be that age will be invaluable." I have so many ideas about teaching kids science. But I'm not convinced it's enough. I worry that I'm too much of a space cadet to be able to reach out to these kids on a gut level (because I worry that I'm too much of a space cadet to reach out to anyone at any age).
I watched "Finding Neverland" tonight, which really revisited these issues I've been struggling with. Am I going to be a grown-up, as I am now, or do I learn how to be a child? Can I be both successfully? (If not,) how well can children sense that an adult is trying to relate to them, but he's really off in his own world?