The other day, I was driving behind a car with an “N” and the words “student driver” on the back. It was cautiously driving and when it was time to do a left turn, the driver almost drove into oncoming traffic. Cars around it honked, some sped into the next lane and drove off annoyed but other cars were patient and followed the traffic as if it never happened.
This brought me to remember how it was like when I first learned to drive. On my driving test, I recall perfectly parallel parking, but when I first got behind the wheel, it was not a pretty sight. White-knuckled and tense, I couldn’t imagine being comfortable driving on my own. However now after many years and many miles, I feel like a veteran on the road (especially with my hour+ commute to work).
Right now, although my practicum is long over, I still feel I am walking around with a big “N” on my back. As a new teacher in my first year, I can’t imagine being comfortable on the road any time soon. I have had great support from so many different places and have been told that it “gets easier” but a long highway stretches in front of me.
I’m most definitely appreciative of the great exposure I’ve had to Twitter, blogging etc. However, with all of this exposure, I often get ahead of myself. With wanting to do so much all at the same time, envisioning myself to be a certain kind of teacher and not always being able to fulfill this vision, frustration mounts. I’ve come to realize that your practicum is not the time to be making mistakes – your first year of teaching is. How do teachers teach teachers about teaching? I was incredibly fortunate to have a faculty advisor and school advisors that trusted me and enabled me to grow. Looking back, however, the true lesson lies when you get your own classroom.
What I’ve learned is to take one step at a time and enjoy the journey along the way, despite the bumps and stop signs that are bound to come along the way. Accidents are not always your fault but there is always a way to avoid them by slowing down and keeping your eyes on the road.
It's a really good analogy. I might add that the students are often the people honking the horns, and the patient drivers around you are your colleagues. I remember in my first year that students weren't particularly patient with me.
ReplyDelete"Your class is wack," one of them told me. Sigh.
Good analogy.
Experience comes from bad judgement...trust me, I have A LOT of experience! Take every misstep as as a learning opportunity. You're right, accidents are not always your fault, but you will be asked to fix them! Stay in the moment, make TODAY the best day of teaching you've ever had...then do that again tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteMy bias - focus on building student confidence. Everything you do should build students' confidence as learners...the rest will work itself out. Do everything you can to reduce anxiety and help the students get to a point where they expect a positive result.
Thanks For the post.
Tom
Thanks for the comments Tom and David!
ReplyDeleteYes, there has to be a focus in the day-to-day or else it all becomes a big overwhelming blur.
I think creating positive relationships and an environment where each student feels like they're being cared for is important too. I had a student say that she doesn't like Science but enjoys the class. I didn't quite know how to take that at first as I felt it was my role to instill a passion in science within each student! However, now that I think about it, each teacher serves a different role in each student. Every child isn't going to become a passionate scientist but my hope is that they'll learn to think differently in my class and challenge themselves a little more than they would have otherwise.
Sachie
Great analogy Sachie! I really like your last line about 'slowing down'. Much like driving, in teaching I think it's important to slow down and ANTICIPATE. We all make mistakes, we all learn from them. Regardless of the role we play, as we gain experience, we learn to anticipate the consequences of our actions and decisions. And you are right, the school year can quickly become a blur. Taking the time to slow things down and reflect as you are through your blog is great!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post.
Aaron