Is it enough to just be smart, or know a lot of information, to be a good teacher? I think that the obvious answer to this question is no but how often is this type of question really dealt with? Of all of my schooling and learning about how to teach, I do not ever recall being given a lesson on how to talk to students. We read one great book about how to talk to children in a way that they will understand, but I am thinking about this in more of a relationship building manner. This quarter I have been teaching in a middle school and I am realizing more than ever that it is so crucial to build a relationship with students and gain their trust before they will be able to learn you. I can remember back to my own schooling, and it was about middle school where my relationship with my teachers went way far south. I would argue that this was partly because my social life with my friends was beginning to interrupt my relationship with my teachers, but also because my teachers had too many students to be vested in me. This cannot be the reason middle school and high school students and their teachers have such disconnects.
My dyad instructor has dedicated much of her time to working with each student individually. Luckily their class schedule has a homeroom period where they can come see her and during class she also allows quite a bit of time to be spent working on an assignment, leaving her a chance to speak with students who otherwise fly under the radar. A teacher told me a really powerful piece of advice a few weeks ago. She told me in all of her years of working in the high school she has noticed that when students are aware that she cares about their learning, they care more about their own learning. I realize that teaching is not a chance for me to become best friends with all of my students, but if finding out their favorite sport or listening to a problem or two of theirs helps them to be a better learner, I am game! And I can always use more friends, even if their 10 ;)
My dyad instructor has dedicated much of her time to working with each student individually. Luckily their class schedule has a homeroom period where they can come see her and during class she also allows quite a bit of time to be spent working on an assignment, leaving her a chance to speak with students who otherwise fly under the radar. A teacher told me a really powerful piece of advice a few weeks ago. She told me in all of her years of working in the high school she has noticed that when students are aware that she cares about their learning, they care more about their own learning. I realize that teaching is not a chance for me to become best friends with all of my students, but if finding out their favorite sport or listening to a problem or two of theirs helps them to be a better learner, I am game! And I can always use more friends, even if their 10 ;)
