I am so excited to be back for another semester of writing! I hope everyone has been doing well! When I last left off I was doing a series on running, but I am going to take a bit of a break from that to diversify my portfolio. Just before I went on break I finished my first teaching placement, and I had so much fun. I was teaching high school Physical Education and Mathematics. I learned a lot and really grew as a teacher and person. One thing I learned about was that students respect you when you are honest with them. I thought I would talk a little bit about what I mean by this today.
When I began my teaching placement I was really scared. I didn’t know what to say or how to say it. I had always been told to be myself because students can see right through you. This is so true, and I realized this my first day. I didn’t try to hide who I was, but I maybe wasn’t as exuberant as I usually was. At first I didn’t want the students to think I was strange, but then it hit me. I want to make all students feel confident in their personalities and interests, so I had to show them I was confident in who I was. At first it was talking about my love of Disney, showing them I was clumsy, and showing them how passionate I was about being their teacher. Before I knew it, the students were saying hi to me in the hallway and sharing their interests with me. When I was honest about who I was, they were honest about who they were. As time went on, I wanted to be honest in the units I taught. I taught a lot of the health units, and in particular, I taught the mental health unit. I wanted to give my students information they could use and an understanding that it was okay to not be okay. I wanted to be honest in the units I taught because if I wasn’t, they wouldn’t learn. I brought in honest articles from other students going through topics we discussed and opened up the class for the students to be honest if they wanted. I wanted our classroom to feel like a safe space, and I did that through being honest.
As a student teacher for the first time I learned so much. I learned that students respond to teachers who are honest and don’t hide who they are. As a teacher, you don’t need to share the nitty gritty details of your life – and you probably shouldn’t. However, as a teacher you can share your passions, your personality, and life stories that could help the whole class. If you are new to teaching, be open to trying new things. Be prepared to feel uncomfortable, but be prepared for rewards greater than you can imagine. Being honest is a good thing, and you should be able to feel confident when being honest.
Thanks for checking out my article! I can’t wait to get back to writing this semester!
Steph