So I didn't quite speeze everything that I wanted to say into my first blog, hence the Part II. Now that I am off that particular soapbox, perhaps it is time to start in on a new one. One of my biggest fears about teaching is that the way in which I teach will irrevocably traumatize my students learning experience. It is as if this fear has become my mantra- I find myself constantly questioning how something (a theory, a technique, a philosophy) will effect my students. This fear has consumed me, in a good way... I think...
So then when we read about round robin reading and some of the negative effects that oral reading can have on students IF not instituted correctly, it got me thinking even more about the ways in which teachers choose to involve their students in their learning, and how sometimes the methods can be more of a hindrance to a childs learning than we think. Also, and maybe this is something that only makes sense in the recesses of my own psychotic head, but I think sometimes teachers get so hung up on educating students that they forget about the importance of learning. Not that teachers are entirely to blame for this epidemic- the entire school system is set up on the premise that students need to meet certain standards, attain certain scores. And of course this influences and informs not only the cirriculum, but also the method(s) of teaching the cirriculum. So sometimes teachers are forced to focus on the product of education instead of the process of education.
Naturally, following that train of thought, I connected with Wilhelm and what he was saying in chapter 1. On page 20 he states, "Texts themselves are not intrinsically literary or nonliterary; the stance taken toward a text makes the reading aesthetic or efferent." The ways in which teachers choose to assess a given subject, in this case reading, can truly inform the manner by which students go about completing the task, but it can have even bigger repercussions: it can inform their learning. Hence my fear about screwing up my students. Wilhelm mentioned many other things that I liked as well... I like what he says about a book being a promise, and the experience for the reader is the fulfilment of that promise. I just thought that was so beautiful because that's exactly how I feel about reading. However, it's not good enough for me to feel that way about reading- I want to know how I can get my students to that threshold as well. This is something that I do not have the answer to now, and though I hope to be much better informed and equipped upon graduation, I know that whatever I think I know about teaching will be challenged time and time again once I actually begin to teach. I still want to be as prepared as possible though, which is why I am looking forward to reading more of what Wilhelm has to say.
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"One of my biggest fears about teaching is that the way in which I teach will irrevocably traumatize my students learning experience."
I had a lot of what I thought were great teachers in high school, teachers I still remember fondly and who inspired me to go into teaching. Reading for my methods class last week, I realized that most of them didn't really do any of the things we talk about doing and did do a lot of the things we're learning not to do. They were still good teachers, because they cared and had the right attitude, if not all the right methods. For students who have most likely never been taught any way but the "wrong" way, even your personality and obvious desire to do the right thing for them--even if you don't always get it quite right--will be new and inspiring. You won't remember every method and teaching tip you're learning here when you step into the classroom, but we're all learning to think about teaching and our roles as teachers in a way that pretty well ensures that we won't torture or traumatize our kids. Just remember to listen to them--they may not be as specific, constructive, or polite as you'd like, but they'll let you know if they don't like what you're doing.
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