Readings 2/09/12 - Conscious Reflections

Assignments: Beers et al Chapters 2 - 4          


The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called "truth."  ~Dan Rather

As I read the readings from this week I was thrown into a mindset of conscious reflections.  All three chapters had sections that as I read I thought to myself, I know that. Other sections led me to think about where I am as a teacher and how I relate to my students, especially my goals for them.

Chapter two, the title of which was 'flying blind' was the chapter that made me reflect the most. As an educator I enter the classroom on a daily basis and subconsciously think about how I feel and what I want to achieve and assume that my students want the same things. I am conscious of some of my students situations but rarely stop to focus on how those  situations impact their learning on a given day.

After reading this chapter I had a conversation/confrontation with one of my students who bluntly told me how different my life was from hers that that I could never understand what she goes through on a daily basis outside of school and then I expect her to come to school and smile and act like everything is ok when in reality it wasn't. That conversation gave me pause and made to reflect on the chapter two to the point of coming to the realization that like myself many educations were flying blind.

The other chapters, three and four also had sections that made me reflect. I reflected on how do I 'reduce my blindness' in a situation where encounter five different groups of students in a given day without turning my classroom into a counseling center?

I concluded that I could be more meaningful in my teaching, instead of thinking about what I enjoy teaching and or learning I could think about what interested my students more, sometimes not even content, but rather engaging activities through which to learn that content.  I realized that I did try to utilize engaging activities in my classroom presently, but they were mostly activities that I found engaging, topics that I was passionate about.

As that one student's voice resonated in my mind, expression that I could not expect her to pretend everything was ok because I wanted it to be ok I realized that I couldn't make it ok and I really could never understand. However what I could do was to try and let go some and begin to let my students guide my teaching more. Look inward a bit more and let my students understand that I might be flying blind but that I am open to seeing.

I know it is going to be a struggle letting go and allowing my students more say in what and how I teach them. But more powerful is the idea that if hey aren't interested they aren't learning so I'm wasting my time anyway.

I end my conscious reflection with the thought that I will change, at least I will try to be more conscious of my students and their situations and needs, I need to not only teach but like a partial quote from Chapter 4 states.... teach with my heart as well as my mind.


Iffeisha