20090217

am i a bad teacher?

I'm at a strange and uncomfortable place in my teaching right now. I'm used to the idea that students will not like me. I make them do work, tell them to stop having fun, and they generally don't want to be around me. That was definitely the case in New Mexico where students would hide behind the deli counter in the supermarket to avoid me. They didn't always like it, but they learned math and if I'm lucky they'll thank me later.
I don't really have that situation now. Students come to my classroom before class, chat with me about tv shows, ask for help on their projects, and generally don't seem to hate me. As I'm typing this out it generally sounds like a good thing, like a positive teacher-student relationship, but there is some corner of my mind that still whispers "if they don't hate you, you're being too easy on them!"
I'm stuck in a place where I feel like I'm doing something right but I'm also worried I've gone soft and I don't hold my students to the same high standards.

3 comments:

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  2. Some of my best (ability-wise) teachers were the ones who everyone liked. Learning should be fun and when kids are comfortable around you, they open up and are more receptive to your lessons.

    Ask your boy about Z and Gusick. I took additional, unnecessary classes with them because they were so good at what they did and were so personable and made learning fun and easy.

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  3. Hi,
    This is Brenda from Trinity. I happened to find you because I just signed up for Twitter, and as I was adding people it looked at my gmail account and asked if I wanted to follow all those people (and you're in my addressbook there because you originally invited me to gmail). And that led me here.
    A strange series of connections, I think, but it's neat to see how you're doing.
    Brenda

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