Going Back to School
I know my students will ask me about my time in Lawrence, and I'm not sure what will come out.
What can I say? It was the hardest teaching assignment of my life, and I don't even know what it's taught me yet. I have such a different perspective on what schools mean, on what serving students means, that I am almost scared of the questions my students will ask; I wonder what new opinions or thoughts those questions will bring up that I was not aware of.
For example, I wonder about the question "What did you teach your students?" What did I teach them? Mathematics? English? The value of finding your own answers in the world around you? Grit? Perseverance?
Nothing?
It is hard not knowing what we really teach students. We plan lessons and we have an idea of where we want our classes to go, but it's never that simple. We are adults that model behavior, teach content, and attempt to show our students a mental and emotional stability that they might emulate when they are older. We are teaching them how we are being ourselves. And for me, tomorrow, I think this means I am teaching them how to honestly reflect, ask questions, and continue to let experiences change us for the better.
I'll be talking about this a lot tomorrow.
What can I say? It was the hardest teaching assignment of my life, and I don't even know what it's taught me yet. I have such a different perspective on what schools mean, on what serving students means, that I am almost scared of the questions my students will ask; I wonder what new opinions or thoughts those questions will bring up that I was not aware of.
For example, I wonder about the question "What did you teach your students?" What did I teach them? Mathematics? English? The value of finding your own answers in the world around you? Grit? Perseverance?
Nothing?
It is hard not knowing what we really teach students. We plan lessons and we have an idea of where we want our classes to go, but it's never that simple. We are adults that model behavior, teach content, and attempt to show our students a mental and emotional stability that they might emulate when they are older. We are teaching them how we are being ourselves. And for me, tomorrow, I think this means I am teaching them how to honestly reflect, ask questions, and continue to let experiences change us for the better.
I'll be talking about this a lot tomorrow.
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