lesson in developmental anthropology
Today I taught fourth grade science. We were learning about light, reflection, refraction, transparency, translucence, and opacity. The instructions left to me were to read aloud with the students, then discuss what we had read, then go through questions at the end of the chapter. At one point, a boy was having a really hard time with his part of the reading. The thing that really stood out was how the other students reacted. Surprisingly, none of them were vicious or accusing, they were all really supportive, which seems odd for the harsh reality of fourth grade. What really hit me though was the differing reactions of the boys and girls. The girls, except the one sitting next to him, kept quiet, waiting for him to get it, the boys were kind of cheering him on, when he would stumble over a word, instead of yelling it to him, they would just be like, come on man you can do it. The girl next to him would just give him little hints at pronunciation, or, if he really didn't get it, she would repeat the word as many times as he needed until he got it right. It was amazing. This is why I want to be a teacher.
Also, is it just me, or did Gym Class Heroes really rip off Animal Collective in their cover of 'take a look at my girlfriend'? Sorry for sounding like a douche.