10/19/2018

Am I Too Empathetic? Reflections



Students self-motivation should NOT be killed by careless teachers, mediocre educational systems or some negative environment.
Children are born curious, some more adventurous, cautious, fearless or insecure than others. Those are the general characteristics that can apply to any human being.  Why do I feel deep inside my heart that I need to work with those students sitting quietly in my class who are feeling insecure, fearful, discouraged by whatever reason and or circumstance? Isn´t that the natural process of learning and growing? Why should I clear the path to those who really struggle walking the hard stages of the learning process?
The above questions above are just an example of how I feel everyday, not only as a passionate, careful educator but also as a mother. One of my own children has helped me realized that some of the mentioned issues going on in many classes: like teachers who did not allow to drink some water during the eighty-minute-block class, or even using the restroom, were the classroom strict rules. I just wonder if these rules have been implemented by the teacher him-herself or were common to all the classes in the whole building? Also, and this is one of the main reasons why I am questioning and analyzing myself as a senior educator, how much this level of restriction affects the general attitude in the class?.
It is really clear that not only teachers´ grit, commitment and mindset as well students ´ willingness affect the pace of a class. There will always be children who are ready to learn on a daily basis unlike those who seldom have that desired  work in a class. 
It has happened to me that there are moments when some of my students do not understand the goal of a student centered lesson: they believe the teacher is a lecturer who has to read instructions in students´ books, explain every single activity instead of guiding them through them. I may be wrong, but I simply think that any child who takes the teacher/educator/facilitator as a knowledge-feeder will find serious obstacles in his/her trajectory.
Michael Linsin says "Independent practice is critical to learning, and giving too much help is often more problematic than not giving enough."
Here is also his newest post: 21 Things You Should Do To Students.


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