For the past week or so I have been grading student packets on installment loans. It is a significant part of their grade and my ST has been lenient in giving students class time to work on them. The stack of packets has been piling on my desk. Because I knew they would need them to study for midterms, which start on Wednesday, as I finished a group I would hand them out. I was excited about handing them out because it was also helping me put faces with names. My ST took me aside and said that in the future just make sure that I have all packets graded just in case students are tempted to cheat or “conveniently” place their packets where it is “convenient” for their friend/neighbor to see.
That was a great Aha! or Duh! moment for me. I mean, I know how creative kids can get when it comes to sharing answers/work. However, I just got over-zealous in receiving that satisfaction that I was actually learning students’ names. My ST and I talked about it and she said that over time you will get to know your students. There will be some classes where you have to keep all papers because cheating will occur and there are other classes where you know that the students won’t even think about doing such a thing. There will be some classes where you can step out of the class for a brief minute and other classes where you probably shouldn’t risk turning your back. It’s all just another example of how no two classes are exactly the same.
Lastly, one lesson from the reading that became relevant to me comes from Straight Talk for Today’s Teachers. The author discusses that the first hand up does not equate to smarter because there is not always a connection. Boy was she ever right! Sometimes the first hand up is not even relevant to the subject. As we were going over practice problems, I asked a question and one of the students who rarely participates had their hand up. I called on them ready for the answer and they ask, “Can I go to the restroom?” I smiled and asked them to wait but inside I was really cracking up inside. It turns out they did know the answer but “other things” needed to be tended to first. This is also part of Teaching 101; you can’t reach a student unless there basic needs have been met.
One of the hardest things to learn in teaching is to anticipate what the student is going to do in a certain situation. This is where reflective teaching comes in. I bet you will think harder about how to distribute materials from now on. Thinking about implications of our actions is so important. I think you just learned how important it is.
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