Day 39: The power at my fingertips... or is the power really at THEIR fingertip?
I have the seating arrangements for two of my classes - and it's up to me to figure out how to move people around so that they stop chatting and pay a little more attention to what's happening. Of course, when a class is volatile and chatty, it's usually the doing of 4 or 5 kids, who in turn ruin it for everyone else...
I happen to have a pretty keen sense of observation, I've noticed who rubs whom the wrong way (or is it "whom" rubs "who" - I'm no English teacher - technically, I am NOT a teacher of any sorts!).
So tonight, my evil plan is to figure out the seating arrangement that will allow the isolation of the trouble makers - or more precisely, to surround these pains-in-the-butt students with calm-quiet-perfect students. Power, power, power...
OK, OK, I've only been in the world of education for 39 days (plus 20 years if you count my student years) and I know there are no "perfect students" - but some come pretty darn close...
I got a very very cool email today - an engineer who is considering going into teaching (after being in the industry for a while).
I have so much to tell her.
I have to tell her how wonderful it can be (yes, can be) with the right classroom dynamics.
I also have to tell her also how much work this involves, particularly the first year.
I have to tell her that students can be masters of torture (see this post) and that a teacher's work is never, ever, ever completely done. Even when all the tests and lab reports are corrected, when the marks are entered into the grading program, when your next test is ready to be handed out, even when you think you're all done and ready, something always comes up. Something you hadn't thought of, like a different way to teach something, a different approach, a new method, a cooler or hipper explanation.
Of course, you also have those teachers who couldn't care less about the students and who simply come in, lecture and leave.
I haven't seen any yet, but I am certain that, just like in every company, every industry, these people exist.
And they must be really really unhappy in the world of education - because how can you not care one bit about the kid who may be performing surgery on your old frail body one day...
