(Lack Of) Patience
Posted by Sarah on 14 Sep 2005 at 08:42 pm | Tagged as: Teaching
I had limited amounts of patience with my class today. I have this great spelling program that I have worked really hard to create- so today, for the first time, we were selecting words to use. The kids just were not getting what I was saying- I re-stated the directions about 15 times (and 10 of them managed to finish the task on their own). Thinking back on it now, I can’t figure out why I was so short with them. Frustrate with myself for not giving them enough time in the first place? I don’t know, but I know I was rude to a few of them. One of my best students, a really sweet girl, was near tears, and I tried to ease her worries and be warm but I was so overwhelmed by this “We have to get this done today!” feeling. (The students are not in school tomorrow or Friday, and we had to prepare for next week) I just feel awful. I don’t do this teaching thing for so that I can make good kids feel like they’re incompetent, and I want to be the warm, gentle teacher all the time who gives students confidence.
I think I need to apologize on Monday.
One problem I had when I was teaching was giving directions. I had trouble stating what I wanted the kids to do, because it was so clear to me.
You know what you want them to do; you know all about your objectives, but the kids don’t necessarily know.
Just my 2 cents.
By the way, what grade(s) do you teach?
I teach 4th grade. Yes, these things you mention make teaching difficult. And I’m learning that giving directions isn’t as easy as it used to be. The few years of teaching that I have experienced have been largely successful. However, when I start a new year like this one, my kids seem so behind the last class (well, they are, I just need to re-do all of what I did the year before!). I love the cyclic nature of the school year, but it’s a bear to start over all the time.