The school year is over. Our last day was a fun day at Boomers. I played some arcades, rode the go-carts, played laser tag and swung at some balls in the batting cage. Oh yeah, I also supervised my students. It was fun. I was pretty tired afterwards.
That is not the event I want to talk about though. The event was mentioned in my last blog post and I still want to talk about it. Towards the end of the year, a couple of my 3rd period students and I were having a casual conversation about the class and how they are doing. Their concern was regarding what they could do to get out of a failing grade. Unfortunately, it was a little too late. The conversation tended to the comment "What happened? You used to be so chill?"
There are many ways teachers create an effective classroom environment. One method I heard while in the EDS program was not to smile until after winter break. It expresses to the students that you are serious about your job and that you shall not be messed with. That was kind of the attitude I wanted to go in with, but that didn't really happen. I got my job early in August and I started on August 12. I really didn't have a lot of time to prepare myself since I had summer classes up to that day. On the first day I tended toward my natural attitude which is warm and friendly. Ask around. I'm sure people will agree.
I would support the idea that it would be appropriate to keep this attitude for a couple of weeks so students become comfortable enough to be in your class and to approach you. After those weeks, it's time for business. However, in my situation, I could not change my demeanor. There were only a few times when my students got me in a bad mood. Usually I was in a happy mood. I was happy to be in my classroom, teaching my students.
In my last blog post, I said I would try something else and be a serious teacher from the very beginning. We shall see what happens. I feel that you do not have to front a serious attitude to make your students believe you are serious about your job.
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End of the Road-Boyz II Men
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4 comments:
So do you think your attitude had any effect on your students' success in the class? Is this blog just a reaction to their comment about you no longer being chill or are you considering a new approach to your students starting next Fall?
I think you have the capability of being serious and friendly at the same time; I've seen you in action! I think if you are fair and approachable, you will be able to build both rapport and respect.
I have been thinking about this too, but I don't know, maybe I will go in with the same attitude as this year. Admittedly, I think I was a tad more serious at the beginning and slowly began to open up more, but I don't think I was ever super serious or strict.
I feel the same way Eric! I know they told us to go into the classroom with the whole serious demeanor but it was hard wasn't it?? We just wanted to be ourselves and for the most part it created a fun learning environment for us where we were able to get along pretty well with our students. I actually had a student say to me the same thing, "What happened? You used to be so chill." It really made me think about my approach as well. I think over time we will learn how we want to start the beginning of the school year. Until then, all we can really do is experiment :)
It's much easier to start strict and loosen up than the other way around. Also, I think the key is to be consistent and fair, and your degree of seriousness in doing so is based on your discretion and your personality.
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