teaching.
I did something pretty typical yesterday: I wore silly shoes. But I had to wear them, because they screamed, quite clearly, transcending language barriers: "Students. Feel welcome but not too welcome (yet), I am empathetic but not soft; I am stylish but that doesn't mean this class is an easy A; I just might be a fun teacher if you are very well behaved all year long, but you should be slightly afraid right now." All that from a 3 1/2 inch tan leather wedge with very, very little arch support. I noticed many a student casting a wary but slightly intrigued eye down towards my feet. So you can see I had little choice. The shoes were necessary.
6:00 pm. found me on my couch, reveling in the cinematic mastery of BravoTV's, "Tabatha's Salon Takeover". My toes, nearly double their normal size, were immersed in a pie tin of bath salts and hot water.
But I kind of love it. No, Not the aching feet or the fact that a full day of my career leaves me the kind of person who finds "Tabatha's Salon Takeover" an extremely enjoyable (even inspiring) show.
At the end of last year, I asked my student to write down two things on a piece of paper: 1. ) What helped you learn this year, what did you like about the class. 2.) What should be done differently.
I read the answers carefully. I was innundated with pithy observations: "Your classroom is better than Ms. C's, because you have air conditioning." And, "watching TV helps me learn more than anything else. We should do that more."
But this is my favorite:
"1. Silent Reading, free speach, freedom to exprease thought, liberty, equality, Fraternity.
2. Nothing should change."
I have this goal to create a safe and meaningful space in my students’ day and, then eventually, in their lives, through the ways that I teach. It almost always feels high, lofty and unreachable. Sometimes, from the trenches of pronouns, conjugations and miscommunications, my goal feels idiotic. And while I can’t figure out whether my student meant “Fraternity” as in " the brotherhood of man”, or whether he was referring to our college unit (where I did mention the unruly conduct of Frat. houses), somewhere in the lovely misspellings of this note I find the reason that I teach.
6:00 pm. found me on my couch, reveling in the cinematic mastery of BravoTV's, "Tabatha's Salon Takeover". My toes, nearly double their normal size, were immersed in a pie tin of bath salts and hot water.
But I kind of love it. No, Not the aching feet or the fact that a full day of my career leaves me the kind of person who finds "Tabatha's Salon Takeover" an extremely enjoyable (even inspiring) show.
At the end of last year, I asked my student to write down two things on a piece of paper: 1. ) What helped you learn this year, what did you like about the class. 2.) What should be done differently.
I read the answers carefully. I was innundated with pithy observations: "Your classroom is better than Ms. C's, because you have air conditioning." And, "watching TV helps me learn more than anything else. We should do that more."
But this is my favorite:
"1. Silent Reading, free speach, freedom to exprease thought, liberty, equality, Fraternity.
2. Nothing should change."
I have this goal to create a safe and meaningful space in my students’ day and, then eventually, in their lives, through the ways that I teach. It almost always feels high, lofty and unreachable. Sometimes, from the trenches of pronouns, conjugations and miscommunications, my goal feels idiotic. And while I can’t figure out whether my student meant “Fraternity” as in " the brotherhood of man”, or whether he was referring to our college unit (where I did mention the unruly conduct of Frat. houses), somewhere in the lovely misspellings of this note I find the reason that I teach.