Wednesday, March 07, 2007
I returned to work on Monday after my escape to Thailand ended feeling truly revitalized and renewed. I feel a lot more relaxed and the feelings of exhaustion and of being burned out have vanished. A vacation was exactly what I needed to turn my outlook on my work around. I have decided not to get angry at the kids when they misbehave, but to just accept that that is what most people in the adolescent and pre-adolescent stage do and to deal with it accordingly. When one of my elementary students gets out of hand, as was the case today with Franz in my 001 class, I will give one warning before sending the child out. Being a teacher is stressful enough as it is--I see no reason why I should scream and yell and wear out my vocal cords to get them to be quiet. I will teach the lesson to the best of my ability-- whether or not the students learn it is their choice. I have finally relaxed, and loosened my reins on the kindergarten kids. With four and five-year olds, you can't expect them to sit still with their hands folded like they're listening to some university lecture. The thing is, I can be a little bit uptight sometimes. i like structure. I like to see results, and I have been struggling for the past nine months at this school because there is no structured curriculum. You need a curriculum with all grade levels but especially with the wee ones because their attention spans are so short. I think I have been teaching the kindergarten kids admirably considering the circumstances I'm under. I teach these kids every single day with very few resources provided and I do find new songs to sing with them and different handouts for them to color but I can't do it all on my own. I have read practically every single story book we have to them and I can tell the kids are starting to get bored, but what am I supposed to do? i am not going to buy new children's books with my own money. That would be part of building a curriculum which is the school administration's responsibility, not mine. So I have resigned myself to using what I have and not getting a headache over it. I'm over it. Finally.
2 Comments:
Sounds like the restful time you spent in Thailand helped rejuvenate you for coming back and facing those lil' bundles of kids. You sound like you are an excellent teaching and working well with your limited resources.
Peace in chaos... Now that's art.
When you can separate stress from who you are it resonates in other people. Still trying to figure that one out in my own life ;p
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home