They Fooled Me

public domain image from Pixabay.com

So I’ve been thinking about what I learned about teaching this semester. There are plenty of things I worked hard to do that I can look to as successes. However, I can do better.

I have written about the fact that I found teaching seniors to feel strangely familiar, even though I had never taught this grade level before. I think the biggest take away I have should not be a surprise to me.

The seniors are kids. I know this; I believe this; I say this in other situations. But, did I teach with this in mind?

I wanted to be very aware of the fact that the young people in front of me were not 10 or even 14 years old anymore. When we had creative writing assignments, I set PG, maybe PG-13, as the upper rating for their work, because I knew where some of them might go otherwise. I paid attention to college application deadlines, when acceptances and rejections were delivered, the impact a breakup could have on productivity. I deliberately chose a book and tackled some topics in that book with particular attention given that these young people will, most likely, be living away from home next year. And yet, I also was swayed by their air of confidence and ease. I fell for it. So, when I gave a quick explanation of something, asked if everyone got it, I believed them when they said yes. I know better! I know to give the complete explanation, at least at the beginning, to ask for questions rather than comprehension. I didn’t let 5th graders or 9th graders get away with that, but …

I taught the people these seniors wanted to be seen as, rather than who they were. I assumed things at the beginning that meant I had to back track later. My 5^th grade teacher self is yelling you know this, you worked so hard to do this clearly and effectively before. What have you forgotten in these few short years?

It’s easy to look at 10 and 11 year olds and see kids. Their very beings scream the words. Even the ones who are already becoming abstract thinkers, getting the jokes, engaging in real discussion about ideas give away their age in ways big and small. There is no mistaking them for adults.

The seniors tricked me, some of them, not just by their physical selves, but through the things they talked about before class began, the questions they wanted to ask me about my life (some of which I did not answer), by their boldness. And so, I did not clearly state some of the basics from the beginning. I assumed. I mistook the physical for the academic. I was overly cautious about not teaching them like the little kids they clearly are not, but should have taught them more like the big kids they clearly are.

So, this semester, I vow to see those big people sitting in front of me as big kids, without making anyone feel bad or condescended to. I’ve got a whole list of what that will mean, but I’ll spare you the class-specific details. Any suggestions?

Wish me luck.