Learning while teaching

I’m going to lie; the end of last week and the beginning of this week have been hard. I don’t know what it is, but attitude is starting to take over. Being here now for a while, I’ve become somewhat accustomed to dealing with attitude, so that’s not the problem. But something about constantly getting onto kids can bring a person down. I don’t want it to get to the point where I’m waking up every morning anticipating how I’m going to “crack down” on my kids.

Take today for instance. I teach a middle school English section. We’re reading a book that requires us to read some in class as well as some at home. And I remember how irritated I used to get at homework. It wasn’t that long ago I was up till all hours of the night working away, so I know when too much is too much. So let me say this first…I don’t give that much homework. I don’t give busy work either. So far it’s been one chapter and they have two days to complete it. So, it being Tuesday, they had Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night to read this one chapter, which consists of 7 pages. Did anyone read it? One person. One girl, read the chapter and filled out her summary worksheet. One person. This has happened before, so it wasn’t that I was surprised this could happen, I just had hope I guess. I had planned this collage/art activity that tied into the novel and I was already to break it to them that we didn’t have to read and we wouldn’t have homework…but, no one read. So, what did we do? We read all period to catch up. And did we? Nope, they still have homework. I felt a bit harsh, but to be honest, I was kind of mad. I feel like a big kid sometimes in that, I plan things for both them and the “educational” side of things, but I also plan it for me. I want to have fun too. Why not make it a team effort. I know I don’t have any teaching training, but I feel like I have a good balance on material they need to know and how to incorporate it into something constructive and enticing. I guess I’m still working to figure out how to get them all into what I’m teaching.

It’s interesting because the classroom dynamics are so different from summer camp. For one thing, in camp they could call me Miss Brit, or Miss Brit-Brat which caught on a bit more than I would have liked it to J In camp I could be that mentor type person to the kids. I could hear them out, help them in what they needed, lead activities, but also joke around and give them a hard time. In the class room, I’m Miss Campbell. This I never thought I’d hear. It’s been a month now since school started, and I’m still not used to it. I have some kids in my class that I used to have in camp who are so accustomed to calling me Miss Brit that it slips every once and a while and I have to get onto them. I keep saying, “its as weird for you as it is for me.”

I like the creativity and freedom I’ve been given in my job. As long as I cover some basic elements, I can teach whatever I want. But I’ve come to realize, I have to have boundaries being a teacher. I can’t joke around with them as much as I’m used to doing. I’ve got to be more to them than just a friend. In this role, friendship is almost secondary. And this is hard for me. I want to build relationships; I guess I just am learning a new way.