Teaching my students (not my lesson plans)

Posted on Dec 16 2008 at 3:15 PM

Halfway through the period, Miss. Jones turns to me, “They’re all yours,” she gleams.  I meander my way to the front of the room (having envisioned this for the past 72 hours, I can honestly say it feels nothing like I expected).  I begin reciting my intro, feeling slightly rehearsed, awkward, my words picking up speed.  Standing behind a small desk at the front of the room, the strangest sensation overcomes me: loneliness.  I feel alone?  In a room full of familiar faces, smiles, hands raised, all eyes on me, yet I feel like I am speaking just to hear myself talk.  Then the little voice in my head, kindly yet matter-of-factly, tells me to calm down— just have a conversation; share your thinking; ask for them to share theirs.  I take a breath (finally), and look around the room, collecting my thoughts.  Don’t teach your lesson plans, prompts my little voice, teach your students.  I let go of my script and the next twenty-minutes flow. 

I walk to the parking lot with a lighter bounce in my step.  As my father would say, my first lesson done, come and gone.  Hopeful that a bit of my technique, my passion rubbed off on twenty-six young writers today, knowing that I myself learned a great lesson: to teach my students.  Teaching my students means getting out of my own head— my isolated thoughts, my beautifully rehearsed recitation, my step-by-step plan—and getting into theirs.  Adapting for their personal needs, letting them see themselves in the lesson, giving them control of their own learning… I am simply the facilitator.  I can’t wait to see where they lead us. 

 

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