so today i went and played with the first graders... i totally adore those kids. my desire to be a parent has sixteenth-toopled over the past three weeks. they're totally insane but they adore me right back, and a big handful of them came up and gave me hugs today, and one little girl told me she loved me... awwww... makes me feel bad for teaching them ruthless capitalism.
it was interesting. in university last week, the teacher was asking us about our classes. she asked us if our kids were being 'good.' there were a number of responses, then she posed the question of whether 'good' means 'obedient.' personally, i think that's a really good question. we discussed it breifly, in the usual manner of discussions in that class - she says something, the class responds with deafening silence, she repeats herself, one person volunteers a timid answer, deafening silence, and we move on. the irony, of course, is that she's very much a methodical teacher and has a hard time when we don't give her the exact answer she's looking for.
so the question - does 'good' mean 'obedient'? i know that my class is generally quiet and attentive and that i consider those 'good' qualities, and that i am guiding them towards an answer that I want, and when they give that answer, i say 'good.' but i believe very strongly in the idea that a better education comes through questioning and pushing, rather than accepting and obeying. am i a hypocrite?
i like to think that if i were a real teacher with a greater familiarity and affinity for the subject matter, that i would be able to allow a number of varied responses to any particular question, or at the least, a number of thought processes to reach a particular answer. my university professor teaches us very much the way i teach the first graders - there is a set of objectives to be met, a set of concepts that are supposed to be absorbed and understood...and any straying from the most direct path to those goals is dismissed. that is absolutely my least favorite class.
am i a hypocrite?
sigh...
oh yeah, and i've got a link to susie's page now (hey nika, didja know susie has a page?)
it was interesting. in university last week, the teacher was asking us about our classes. she asked us if our kids were being 'good.' there were a number of responses, then she posed the question of whether 'good' means 'obedient.' personally, i think that's a really good question. we discussed it breifly, in the usual manner of discussions in that class - she says something, the class responds with deafening silence, she repeats herself, one person volunteers a timid answer, deafening silence, and we move on. the irony, of course, is that she's very much a methodical teacher and has a hard time when we don't give her the exact answer she's looking for.
so the question - does 'good' mean 'obedient'? i know that my class is generally quiet and attentive and that i consider those 'good' qualities, and that i am guiding them towards an answer that I want, and when they give that answer, i say 'good.' but i believe very strongly in the idea that a better education comes through questioning and pushing, rather than accepting and obeying. am i a hypocrite?
i like to think that if i were a real teacher with a greater familiarity and affinity for the subject matter, that i would be able to allow a number of varied responses to any particular question, or at the least, a number of thought processes to reach a particular answer. my university professor teaches us very much the way i teach the first graders - there is a set of objectives to be met, a set of concepts that are supposed to be absorbed and understood...and any straying from the most direct path to those goals is dismissed. that is absolutely my least favorite class.
am i a hypocrite?
sigh...
oh yeah, and i've got a link to susie's page now (hey nika, didja know susie has a page?)