Humility

Is it o.k for a teacher to be wrong? I believe that almost everyone would answer yes to that question. Nobody is perfect and sometimes even when you think you are right, you are wrong. You would hope that the teacher is almost always right, but sometimes they are not. Therefore what important is how the teacher handles the humility after of being wrong.

I remember very clearly the last time I was wrong. I was in the car with my mom and my sister and a song came on. I had the song on my Ipod and knew it very well. At the end of the song my mom said "wasn't that nice, she was singing about her mother" and I responded that no she wasn't, "she was sing about her father." My sister jumped in and took my moms side. I was so confident that she was singing about her farther I almost started crying because they would not believe me even though I swore I was right. The lack of confidence they had in me even though I owned the song and heard many times was very upsetting. However later that day we looked up the music video and it had her mom in it. I was humiliated. I was so confident I was right that it was a punch to the stomach when I realized I was wrong. The important thing, however, was that I did realize I was wrong. Part of me wanted to storm of to my room and not even face my mother and sister who I am sure were gloating, but I didn't. I acknowledged they were right, and apologized. Luckily the did not rub it in my face to much after I said I was sorry and the mistake was soon forgotten by them. 

Looking back at the whole silly ordeal I wish I had been open to their opinions more about the song. However, I am not that upset that I stood by what I thought was right. I truly would have bet money that I was right. I think as a teacher if you are confident about something stick to it, but if challenged be willing, like I did, to look it up. If you are wrong act gracefully and admit to it.  It is hard as a teacher to balance confidence and genuine humility. It is o.k to be embarrassed, but make sure you are not to ashamed to admit you were wrong. I think if you handle it in the right way your students, like my sister and mother, won't give you to much crap about it. If you are confident, like I said go with it because many times you will be right. Be willing if challenged to look something up, because you never know if that small chance that you are wrong could occur. 

Eating lunch with your students

This past January I had the opportunity to observe in a fourth grade classroom for a month. I remember being extremely excited to get to know the teacher and her students.  I learned all of the students names right away, and after correcting many of there assignments and helping them in group activities I was quick to catch onto their academic strengths and weaknesses. However, although I got a small grasp of there personalities by observing them in the class room I really did not know that much about them. That all changed however at lunch time.

At the school I observed the teachers ate lunch with their students every single day in the lunch room as a class. I had never experienced this before and was very surprised by it. To be honest at first I was a little disappointed, I was looking forward to eating lunch with the other teachers to hear their insights and ideas, but after a month I can not imagine not eating with my students as a teacher. 

I learned so much about there lives and there personalities. As fourth graders I did not really think about how much stress some of them could have. They really opened up over lunch. I learned about their families, their sports, their likes and dislikes. I laughed with them and talked with them. I made sure that I was still the teacher at the table however, and not just a buddy. They called Ms. R and listened when I talked. I think it is essential that you remain in charge for the relationship at lunch to work. However I think it is o.k to to open up with them and tell them a little about your life. In my opinion they respect you more when you do, because they relate to you on a more personal level. 

Why is eating lunch with your students beneficial? I believe not only do you learn about and develop closer relations with your students, but you can use the information that you learn about them and apply it to the classroom. For example I remember one boy who was extremely quite in the classroom and seemed to have an attitude that he was too cool for school. One day at lunch I heard him and his friends talk about rap music. I sat by them and they were a bit surprised that I joined the conversation. Needless to say I was telling the teacher about our conversation, and she agreed that the boy seemed very passionate about it, which was surprise. So in the next book project she gave students the option to do something with finding music on itunes that you could relate to the book. The boy was actually excited to make a CD and did a great job on it.

In my opinion eating lunch with your students can make you a better teacher. I learned so much about the students in a month and used that information while working with them. In return they learned about me. Our relationships strengthen when we found common ground at lunch to talk about, and I still kept my teacher status. I think that as a teacher you should really consider eating lunch with your students at least for a couple of weeks like I did. You will be surprised how much you learn about them and how you can incorporate that information to make your students get excited about learning and school activities. 

Efficacy

I believe that a teacher's efficacy is vital to their career. One's self-awareness and confidence is essential to how they are going to teach. If a teacher does not have confidence in themselves the student will not have confidence in the teacher. 

Even if you are scared or nervous as a teacher, I would recommend that you should try not to show it. The reason why I say that is because I have had teachers in the past who you could tell on the very first day how nervous they were. As students when the teacher was scared it showed us that we had the power to influence him or her. We could get away with more. If the teacher does not have persistency he or she will eventually just give up on a project or on their students. Things don't always work the first time. As a teacher you need to try again. Lead by example. Have a good work-ethic and be persistence. If you want your students to work hard and keep trying you need to as well. Teacher's must have confidence in what they are doing. I know as a student I easily pick up on the mood of my teacher and often my mood changes to match theirs. So if I see that a teacher is not really confident in what they are teaching I am going to be apprehensive about what I am learning and less likely to remember it or pay attention if I don't think it is all that important. 

It is clear that confidence is important however it is not as clear how to gain that confidence. I feel like a teacher can gain efficacy by coming prepared. Know what you want to teach and stay with it. If something is not working, even after a little persistence than stay open to new ideas. I know I will be very nervous for my first year of teaching. I am going to try to prepare for it by being well organized and flexible. Every class will be different. I need to be confident in myself to adapt to the class, but at the same time be persistent in what I have prepared. If I show confidence I think the students will be more likely to trust me. Efficacy is so important when it comes to teaching.