Admittedly, I've never given teachers much credit. I think it is partly because I've never been extremely uncomfortable in public speaking situations, and partly because I never realized how difficult it was to convey information to others. I just never related with what they were doing, or figured it was all that difficult. After actually taking note of my presence in the classroom, however, I have some new thoughts:
1) Filler words - Listen to anyone talk. Your spouse, your kid, the teller at the bank, the President of the United States, anyone, and listen for the filler words/noises. Filler words/noises are things that people cling to when they are thinking or are uncomfortable with silence. It can come in the form of "like" or "um" or "uh", or my personal favorite (at least in front of the classroom), "ok". If I had a penny for every time I said "ok" during a lesson, I would have a lot of pennies. Usually "ok" is used as a response to a question but I have found some pretty unnatural situations to plug in that little gem. Duly noted.
2) Kids do so much when you're not looking- I was once a student and was not always on my best behavior. I admit that. I would be lying if I said I never spat a spitball or passed a note or did something that could eventually be disruptive for the learning environment. I don't ever remember being as cunning as some of these students though. I had the idea that I had a pretty good grasp on things taking place when my back was turned, but boy am I wrong. People turned around in their desk, people hitting people, people blatantly talking when they shouldn't, the list goes on and on. It's really incredible. I don't know why the C.I.A. isn't taking instruction from some of these kids. Also duly noted.
3) Explanation is hard - Because I have learned some of these lessons time and time again in various classes I forget how much I take some basic principles for granted. Consequently in trying to explain an idea to a student, I literally trip over my own thought process, because I have never thought of how to explain it. Something that may seem obvious is not always so. Breaking down ideas into bite-sized morsels of information takes a lot of creativity, and it is frustrating when you try, and no matter what you say, the student is not getting it. I tend to enter into a flurry of words that creates an incomprehensible hailstorm of confusion, and then realize that I have five less minutes to try and explain it. Great.
These are initial reactions. There is plenty more to come, but it should be noted how thankful I am for the whole summer school experience. I can't imagine starting out the fall semester not knowing what I know now. The challenge and opportunity is now employing these thoughts and others to my practice of teaching.
Oh man, how bad do I feel about also not given teachers their proper credit. I think a lot about my high school bio and chem teachers and just how much crap I gave them. "Why dont you know this? Why don't you know that?" I'm pretty sure I singlehandedly made my chemistry teacher start going grey.
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