Yesterday, I talked about persevering no matter what. Today is a new day.
My first year teaching was full of trials and tribulations. Each lesson was a learning experience more for me than I feel like it was for my students. I learned so much about class management, which gave me a much better idea on what it takes to be a parent. I learned more about how kids think, which is something I definitely forgot from my own youth. It was challenging mentally and physically, but I didn't want to give up. For my sake and theirs.
Kids are usually quite honest, especially compared to adults. There were times when they'd be super bored or completely unmotivated to learn and they were never too shy to show it. Sometimes they just couldn't understand the lesson materials and I'd have to figure out a way within the next 40 minutes how to make it all make sense to them. Kids also have a short attention-span if things are difficult and games are sometimes counterproductive to their learning because they focus too much on having fun and not learning. I had to learn how to adapt fast and when you're new at something it's a skill that requires a lot of practice. I remember spending a few days prior to the lesson thinking about how I'd get my kids to understand for that day's materials and it helped me come up with a lot of effective ideas.
It'd be easy to be content with them not being 100% effective, but perhaps my ego is too high or my pride is too strong. Whatever it may be, something always told me to never be fully satisfied with my lessons and so I always tried to find something that wasn't perfect with my lessons that I could work to improve on. Even if they were able to answer my questions by the end of the lesson, I often thought that there's so much left for me to teach them to make them that much more fluent. It's both an asset and a curse as it helps me improve my craft, but it also drives me crazy.
Even though it was hard, seeing that they've made progress since I last saw them made me think that all of my efforts were worth it. Of course, they also deserve major props for doing all of the work, but I hope that my efforts had an impact on them. If they didn't, all of the hard work that I've put in has translated into how I teach now and it's made me much more comfortable with what I do. It's still a challenge as I have to adapt to every child's needs, but the experience last year gave me the foundation I needed so for that I'm forever grateful to them. They'll never know how they taught me more than I did them.
No matter what it is, even if you fail, your hard work and effort IS worth it. It changes you as a person and I've found that you always come out stronger if you just push through the obstacles.
Peace
"I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles." - Christopher ReeveA year ago I started my teaching career in Japan and prior to it had no experience working with kids. I remember how nervous I was when I first walked into a classroom full of kids and thinking to myself, "well, this is either gonna be a huge disaster or things are gonna be alright. Might as well see what happens". After posting yesterday's thoughts, I went back to visit my first school (I now work much closer to home) to see how my kids have grown and it was great to see them again. I got to see some big smiles and it was a huge honor that the kids still remembered me and wanted to talk to me. One of them was so excited she looked like she saw a ghost when I said hi and immediately wanted to talk to me.
My first year teaching was full of trials and tribulations. Each lesson was a learning experience more for me than I feel like it was for my students. I learned so much about class management, which gave me a much better idea on what it takes to be a parent. I learned more about how kids think, which is something I definitely forgot from my own youth. It was challenging mentally and physically, but I didn't want to give up. For my sake and theirs.
Kids are usually quite honest, especially compared to adults. There were times when they'd be super bored or completely unmotivated to learn and they were never too shy to show it. Sometimes they just couldn't understand the lesson materials and I'd have to figure out a way within the next 40 minutes how to make it all make sense to them. Kids also have a short attention-span if things are difficult and games are sometimes counterproductive to their learning because they focus too much on having fun and not learning. I had to learn how to adapt fast and when you're new at something it's a skill that requires a lot of practice. I remember spending a few days prior to the lesson thinking about how I'd get my kids to understand for that day's materials and it helped me come up with a lot of effective ideas.
It'd be easy to be content with them not being 100% effective, but perhaps my ego is too high or my pride is too strong. Whatever it may be, something always told me to never be fully satisfied with my lessons and so I always tried to find something that wasn't perfect with my lessons that I could work to improve on. Even if they were able to answer my questions by the end of the lesson, I often thought that there's so much left for me to teach them to make them that much more fluent. It's both an asset and a curse as it helps me improve my craft, but it also drives me crazy.
Even though it was hard, seeing that they've made progress since I last saw them made me think that all of my efforts were worth it. Of course, they also deserve major props for doing all of the work, but I hope that my efforts had an impact on them. If they didn't, all of the hard work that I've put in has translated into how I teach now and it's made me much more comfortable with what I do. It's still a challenge as I have to adapt to every child's needs, but the experience last year gave me the foundation I needed so for that I'm forever grateful to them. They'll never know how they taught me more than I did them.
No matter what it is, even if you fail, your hard work and effort IS worth it. It changes you as a person and I've found that you always come out stronger if you just push through the obstacles.
Peace
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| Whatever the trials may be, push through and the view on the other side will always be beautiful. |
What are you working toward overcoming?
ReplyDeleteFor me, it's finding balance with work, social life, and finding time for my hobbies.