Tales from Teacher’s College
Tales from Teacher’s College
We learn a lot of different things in Teacher’s college. We learn the fine art of educating the world youth. We are given the skills to prepare units, lessons and activities that will engage students and give them the wisdom to be responsible and productive members of society.
However, there are many other things that were taught to us as we were preparing to embark on our teaching journey. These are the stories from teachers college.
The idea of being a teacher in a classroom of kids can be daunting and sometimes overwhelming. I remember what it was like when I was a kid in school and to be honest, many kids were just down right rude. I can only imagine how stressful it must have been for my teachers having to deal with us. One of the biggest fears and concerns of people I chatted with in teacher’s college was dealing with difficult kids. Kids can be mean!!!
One day the topic came up during our meeting with our placement advisor and she shared a piece of advice that I know helped early on and I would share with others. She listened to the concerns that some shared after their first practice teaching assignment and told us this:
“You can’t take things that kids say personally”
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Kids are going to say stuff at times that might be hurtful or rude ad if you take these things personally all the time then you are going to spend a lot of time stressed out. You have gto remember that they are children and there are lots of factors that contribute to their behaviours. It is not necessarily about you, even though you might end up on the receiving end.
This advice has come in handy, especially when I was a supply teacher.It is like having to access the force to manage your emotions. Being a replacement in a class for a single day can be tough sledding and sometimes kids will actually go out of their way to make things difficult. I quickly learned to shrug those moments off and move on to the next day. It wasn’t necessarily about me, it most likely would have been any supply teacher.
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It does get harder as you have your own class and you form closer connections with the students but I have learned to always consider the root of the actions and try to work from that perspective.
Don’t take everything personally, advice that has served me well. Thanks again Master Teacher. The force grows strong in us.