Yesterday was an in-service day for all teachers so we weren't in the schools. We had a mini conference instead. I was able to go to two lectures. The first was on using non fiction in a classroom. We got a lot of cool handouts that I might be able to use for my IDP. I also went to a lecture on integrating children's literature in culturally responsive classrooms. It wasn't exactly what I thought it would be, but it was still interesting. One of the speakers in that lecture talked about certain books that she used to develop in her students a love for reading and responding. Some of the books she used I would not think to use at all because they're so "rough." They're really street-oriented and deal with tough issues that at first I was shocked she'd use for middle school children until I realized that these were things that they deal with every single day. For them it's more than a story -- they can relate to these things! I can't imagine growing up that way.
Anyway, today was great. I enjoyed the kids a lot again. They're all so warm and responsive. They love to love and be loved. One of them asked me if I could teach her what I learn in college. Haha. Another asked me how old I am and when I told him "21" he said "What?! You look so young!" Yeah whatever. The boy I helped with fractions on Monday waved his hand and called me over, "Ms. Beth!" (yes, nobody can get my name straight), "I really learned about fractions! I understood the pictures and I went home and showed my mom and we did more and I really get it!" Fantastic! Imagine that... some kid understood fractions from ME! Good thing he's only in 4th grade because if it were much higher, he wouldn't have learned anything from me. :)
I got to read a book to the kids. I love reading books! It was a lot of fun and I had their rapt attention. I'm glad they like books so much. They do about an hour period of Sustained Silent Reading but they really love being read to as a class.
Tomorrow I teach a math lesson on volume and on Friday I have a strategy lesson on outlining. I'm a little traumatized about math, but it's just volume. How bad can it be! Haha.
For science class, the kids go to another teacher. One of the kids warned me that the teacher was really mean. Sure enough, the door opens and the teacher begins yelling. He was so sarcastic to the students. They didn't respect him and he didn't respect them. He used so much sarcasm with them as well. He said things like "Excuse me, I didn't know you had a college degree in botany.. SIT DOWN!" or "How many more of you want to make BAD CHOICES?" The kids didn't really learn anything because he spent the whole time yelling at them. Once he stopped them all and said "Room ___ doesn't DO science anymore. They just sit here and take notes as I lecture. If you keep this up, you're not going to DO science anymore either. You're just going to take notes for the rest of the year." He called another kid out and broadcasted to the whole class the bad grade that he had gotten in his benchmarks. He scolded the whole class for failing their benchmarks and blamed it on them not listening. I felt so bad for the class. They have so much curiousity and I could see them being really good in a science class, if the teacher had their respect and actually cared.
After getting back, we went to a lecture by this guy who wrote a book on urban education. He was really cool and talked about the impact that teachers have on these students. I am really, really liking urban education. It comes with a lot of challenges and I can see many days of frustration, but the reward of being able to positively impact at least one child is really exciting. It's such a mission field. I keep thinking about some of my theories or philosophy of ed and discipline seminar classes and how different we approach some of these things. Non-Christian teachers, who are amazing teachers, are teaching to impact students, but for a different reason than Christians. They don't really understand the infinite value and worth of each student, nor do they understand that human beings are created in the image of God and have the capacity to know Him! If a non-Christian teacher can teach with so much passion and love for these kids, how much more ought a Christian to make an impact! One professor was talking about how the key is to make kids feel good about themselves and to believe in themselves. Um... not exactly. They care so much about students, which is great, but the reason for why they teach is still so shallow compared to the reason that Christians should teach! If I taught full time in an urban school, I can see myself having those days where I just want to shake some of the really frustrating kids, but still... of all people to show true love to these children, it ought to be Christians!
One thing that PBU has not prepared me for is how fun it is to have real children to teach. Our methods courses have involved teaching our lessons to peers. It's not the same. The reward factor doesn't even compare. I wish sometimes that we got into the schools earlier and did "micro teaching" as some other schools do. Oh well.
PBU has prepared me well for emphasizing the reason why we teach the way we do. It's not just to help kids succeed. It's not just to give them a better future, materialistically. It's not just to make them feel happy. We teach the way we do because of what we believe about the moral and actional nature of the human being and because we believe that we have been given these children as a kind of sacred trust and are responsible as stewards of their education for the time they are with us to teach them the truth and strive to be a shining light for the Gospel in a dark land. THAT is what excites me about teaching!
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