Difficult Importance

Well, I would have to say that there are two things that I think are equally difficult and important that teachers need to do. First, trying to meet the needs of the whole class and the individual students at the same time. I am not a teacher yet, but it's not hard to imagine that a teacher (or anyone for that matter) would want every individual student to succeed in class. This brings me to my next point, which admittedly may be a little sappy or mushy or sensitive, but personally I think that this is one of the most crucial things a teacher can do. So what is it? Teaching children to believe in themselves. I think we live in a world that increasingly places pressure on people to conform and mold themselves so as to fit into a certain ideal or image. I think that it is important for teachers to teach children that individuality is important and that it's okay to be different from other people. I think that children need to be taught that they can be whoever they want to be, that they can accomplish great things and do whatever they put their minds to. I believe that we live in a world where a lack of belief in one's self is ever increasing, and I think that as teachers teaching belief and confidence in their students can be one of the most difficult and challenging and incredibly important things they can do.

Things I've Done..

For the most part I have mainly just been doing observations. But hey, don't knock it, there is A LOT you can learn from just watching people. However, when I haven't been doing observations, I have helped out with little responsibilities here and there.

One of the first things that I ever did was grade some math and spelling pretests. The teacher told me not the be scared away because of how bad they were. I wasn't, but they were pretty awful. But I had confidence in this first year teacher's responsibilities. I have also done quite a bit of reading with students one-on-one. I have learned how to help them when they get stuck, and I've learned to love their individual reading voices. I just can't even handle it sometimes. They are hilarious.

Mostly I just do simple prep around the classroom. Things like: sharpening pencils, getting materials ready for crafts, setting out assignments, putting papers in cubbies, setting up stations for activities, and mainly just helping the teacher and class out with little things here and there.