I believe that teaching is emotional, student led, and selfless. Teaching is an exciting journey that never ends. It is constantly changing based on student needs and the world around us.
The teacher must adopt the role of the facilitator not content provider Teaching is an experience and opportunity like no other because it allows you to be an educator and a learner at the same time. However, at times, teaching has become more reciting facts and teaching to a test rather than allowing students to guide the learning through their various interests. It is a challenge. This is what I love most about teaching: the student-driven and inquiry based components of it. Teachers love to teach, but what they love even more, is teaching things that their students are interested in learning.
During the first few weeks of student teaching, I was terrified. I was fearful of messing up and making mistakes, however, I was honest with my students in my small guided reading group. This allowed transparency between my students and me. It allowed me to be vulnerable and showed my students how much I trust them. After the lesson, a girl named Noelle came up to me and said, "Ms. Keenan, you did a good job. I can't wait for group tomorrow." Once Noelle said that, it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. The students helped me become a better teacher and grow my self-confidence. Another student, Sienna, struggles with math, so after the whole group lesson, I would work with her in a small group or one-on-one setting. A classmate was frustrated by a concept, and Sienna spoke up and said, "Ms. Keenan can help you. She helped me earlier!" Thanks to Sienna's vote of confidence and her success, I assisted the other student by differentiating my small group lesson to better support the other student. |