summercomfort (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
summercomfort) wrote2012-07-07 03:30 pm
summercomfort) wrote2012-07-07 03:30 pm
How being a teacher has changed me
So during the trip with Joanne, she commented that since becoming a teacher, I express complex ideas in simpler, more discrete chunks and in a louder voice. It's true! When I express myself, I now tend to do more "pre-processing" before laying out an idea, and unfortunately I find that I often say the same thing twice. Anyway, here are some ways that being a teacher has changed me:
A strong sense of "What's appropriate" and a desire to reprimand kids who are behaving inappropriately. This comes from being in a position of power in the classroom, and having to constantly make the judgment call on what's appropriate and what's not, and why. This is especially bad when at the grocery store -- I do a lot of glaring. I'm also a lot more offended by lewd stares and "ching chongs" when travelling -- I also do a lot of glaring then.
When speaking, I tend to lay out a general idea first, and then elaborate. This comes from lectures and leading discussions. So I would often say "First I want to talk about this, and then we can go into more detail". Or I would make a hedged generalization, wait for the rebuttal, and then delve into the discussion.
I make a lot more overt connections in discussing new topics. The way we learn is by making these connections, but whereas before this would just be internalized, I now reflexively verbalize these connections. This comes from modeling these connections for the students. I personally also think making these connections overt and integrating it into the conversation also benefits the other listener, but .... I hope I don't sound patronizing?
I'm better at dividing large tasks into smaller chunks without losing sight of the big picture. This comes from both the writing of assignment sheets, and also from general curriculum design. Curriculum design is all about having main skill and content goals, and then figuring out how to get there in daily hour-length chunks, in a way that threads everything together.
I'm better at evaluating the skills needed to accomplish something. This comes from designing assignments. Teaching has made me very aware of content and skill levels.
I'm better at articulating my assessment of something. Sure, I mostly say "meh", but if pressed for details, I can give a generally clear breakdown of why I feel a certain way about something. This comes from all the grading that I have to do.
I've gotten better at giving clear directions and discussing logistics.
I have a very good sense of time increments of less than 60 minutes. In the classroom, 5 minutes can make or break one's lesson plan.
I've become hyper-sensitive to pagination. This comes from the fact that the copier can print double-sided. But getting a handout to fit on the right # of pages has become this sort of obsessive thing for me.
I'm ruthless about editing. I reflexively summarize. Since my target audience at school is usually 15-year-olds, I am often cutting long articles down to size and extracting the juiciest tidbits.
I'm better with the iterative process. One of the great things about being a teacher is that you can always tweak more. For example, I just made a handout for Chinese class that extracts and edits together the two articles that Jono posted. I know it's not classroom-ready yet, but I also know that I have more time to tweak it before August. And after using it once, I can tweak it again ... and again ..., etc. I also know when the current incarnation is "good enough." I'm also more "audience-aware." I think this has helped me with creating other things, like comics, websites, etc.
I'm always on the lookout for curriculum. I see something and immediately think, "oo, this would be a great example to show [theme] or explore a [topic]." Jono accuses me of taking entire museums home with me on my camera. :)
I'm less accustomed to tall people. Since, no matter how tall my students are, they have to sit down, I've grown accustomed to addressing myself to seated people in the middle distance.
I'm very good at adding numbers of less than 100, but horrible at all math beyond that. The addition comes from adding up points on a test or on a rubric. For example, the 6 pages on the test might have the point values of 4, 5.5, 9, 7, 21, and 8, and I'd have to figure out how many points the student earned (out of 60).
Anyways, not an exhaustive list, but it's fun to think about.
A strong sense of "What's appropriate" and a desire to reprimand kids who are behaving inappropriately. This comes from being in a position of power in the classroom, and having to constantly make the judgment call on what's appropriate and what's not, and why. This is especially bad when at the grocery store -- I do a lot of glaring. I'm also a lot more offended by lewd stares and "ching chongs" when travelling -- I also do a lot of glaring then.
When speaking, I tend to lay out a general idea first, and then elaborate. This comes from lectures and leading discussions. So I would often say "First I want to talk about this, and then we can go into more detail". Or I would make a hedged generalization, wait for the rebuttal, and then delve into the discussion.
I make a lot more overt connections in discussing new topics. The way we learn is by making these connections, but whereas before this would just be internalized, I now reflexively verbalize these connections. This comes from modeling these connections for the students. I personally also think making these connections overt and integrating it into the conversation also benefits the other listener, but .... I hope I don't sound patronizing?
I'm better at dividing large tasks into smaller chunks without losing sight of the big picture. This comes from both the writing of assignment sheets, and also from general curriculum design. Curriculum design is all about having main skill and content goals, and then figuring out how to get there in daily hour-length chunks, in a way that threads everything together.
I'm better at evaluating the skills needed to accomplish something. This comes from designing assignments. Teaching has made me very aware of content and skill levels.
I'm better at articulating my assessment of something. Sure, I mostly say "meh", but if pressed for details, I can give a generally clear breakdown of why I feel a certain way about something. This comes from all the grading that I have to do.
I've gotten better at giving clear directions and discussing logistics.
I have a very good sense of time increments of less than 60 minutes. In the classroom, 5 minutes can make or break one's lesson plan.
I've become hyper-sensitive to pagination. This comes from the fact that the copier can print double-sided. But getting a handout to fit on the right # of pages has become this sort of obsessive thing for me.
I'm ruthless about editing. I reflexively summarize. Since my target audience at school is usually 15-year-olds, I am often cutting long articles down to size and extracting the juiciest tidbits.
I'm better with the iterative process. One of the great things about being a teacher is that you can always tweak more. For example, I just made a handout for Chinese class that extracts and edits together the two articles that Jono posted. I know it's not classroom-ready yet, but I also know that I have more time to tweak it before August. And after using it once, I can tweak it again ... and again ..., etc. I also know when the current incarnation is "good enough." I'm also more "audience-aware." I think this has helped me with creating other things, like comics, websites, etc.
I'm always on the lookout for curriculum. I see something and immediately think, "oo, this would be a great example to show [theme] or explore a [topic]." Jono accuses me of taking entire museums home with me on my camera. :)
I'm less accustomed to tall people. Since, no matter how tall my students are, they have to sit down, I've grown accustomed to addressing myself to seated people in the middle distance.
I'm very good at adding numbers of less than 100, but horrible at all math beyond that. The addition comes from adding up points on a test or on a rubric. For example, the 6 pages on the test might have the point values of 4, 5.5, 9, 7, 21, and 8, and I'd have to figure out how many points the student earned (out of 60).
Anyways, not an exhaustive list, but it's fun to think about.