I like Smitty.
Wow. What a class...
I just wanted to comment on one thing we sort of touched on: that is, getting to know your students before you meet them.
First, an extreme example:
My French 12 teacher confronted a friend of mine the first day we walked into class. He told her that he was not happy to see her in the class, that he had heard of her misbehaviours and whatnot in other classes, and that he would be very happy if she dropped the course right now and saved him the trouble of kicking her out.
And she did.
Obviously, this French teacher was a bit of an arrogant you-know-what which is very unlike the kind of people we are. I just want to point out the danger in knowing too much about your students from other sources before they get to show you themselves.
This happens in "real" life for me. I've found that if someone has given me the lowdown on a certain person, my perspective of that person is coloured before I even meet them. I find I don't try very hard to get to know this person unless they wow me, which they usually do and I realize - hey! I almost missed an opportunity to get to know this person because of something I heard through the grapevine.
So I agree with Smitty on this one. However, he was great at showing us the value of getting to know something unique and positive about your students and what that can do for classroom interest and self-esteem.
Wow.
posted by Leah at 1:56 PM
2 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
9:30 PM
In reply to what Leah said (and donald agreed with), I think that it is fair to know some stuff about your students before they come into the class. If the student has a disability, it would be helpful for you to know how to plan the lessons differently so as to be considerate to them. Things like this that require special consideration should be passed on for the teacher's benefit. (who would want to be handing out challenging reading assignments all the time, when some of the students have extreme difficulty reading several grades below their own grade level?)
I do however agree that in terms of behavior (unless it is a medical behavior issue), "gossip" should not be passed down, because each student will behave differently for each teacher, and should have a chance to work through any behavior issues without being judged by preconceptions.
12:00 AM
Post a Comment
<< Home