Teaching

I have a lot more respect for teachers nowadays than I did when I was a kid. Or even as a young adult.

Who here has tried to teach anyone something? Academic or otherwise, anything goes.

It requires the patience of a saint. Seeing the student repeatedly get the same thing wrong when it's something you know they know because they've demonstrated it under strict test conditions, yet you have to stay chilled and breath deep and slow and not start shaking with frustration but instead try different approaches as you wait, and hope and pray for the penny to drop.

So if you're a teacher, either professionally or just casual, or if you have been or will be, then I salute you.

 

Thanks @clueless1 , I'm a teacher in a primary school. I really love it though it can be hard work. It's really rewarding.
Nice to see such a positive post on the subject, it is much appreciated.

 

My earlier frustration was with my primary school age son, who is several grades higher at our martial arts than his mam, who has just achieved her next grade. I thought it would boost his confidence to teach his mam the new moves for her new grade, now one grade behind his level. He made mistake after mistake while demonstrating techniques that for him are one grade below his current level. Our club is lovely, but strict. I was there when he tested for the grade he was trying to demonstrate and I saw him blow my mind with his impressive moves. Yet today he was frustratingly bad it.

The thing is, I've been helping the wife learn her new techniques too. It is hard work teaching her, but she has enough life experience to understand context. She's seen bar brawls. She's had fisticuffs with her siblings. She's been hurt. When I explain that this technique deflects this attack, she can understand that. But cl1.1 thankfully has never experienced genuine hostility. I hope that remains so for as long as possible. But it does mean I can't say 'it's like when...' to him.

As a primary teachers, I can imagine you teaching maths for example. I can imagine how much easier your job might be if you could say 'it's like when you got ripped off when buying that....', but you can't because they've not had that life lesson yet. So you have to try to find a way to teach without real life context. That must be so hard.

 

My immediate thought is that asking a young son to teach his Mam something there is naturally going to be an element of "showing off" perfectly normal in a lad that age As you are probably already aware, when people are showing off, they tend to make silly mistakes simply because their mind isn't 100% focussed.
Try not to feel frustrated at his efforts, he could pick up on your frustration and that could have a bigger impact on his confidence in the long run

Aside from bringing up my children (which is one long period of "teaching" ) I spent a period of time in China teaching Chinese English Teachers ... erm ... English. It was a wonderful experience and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Now, you would think that being English teachers they would speak English? One of the things I wanted to found out when I first met the group was when had they last held a conversation in English: it ranged from 2 - 15 years!!! That was quite a balancing act because their levels of understanding varied considerably and their ability to produce certain sounds could be quite ... creative! One of the teachers told me that the way she teaches English to her class of 70 pupils was to use a tape recording of English words/phrases, play it and have the children recite back what they had heard. Hardly ideal, especially in terms of pronunciation.
They were there at the behest of the State and some had travelled a great distance, away from their spouses and children, to attend the course.
As a group, we set up class rules to agree behaviours from Day 1. One of their agreed policies: no mobile phones. Yet, there was one student who was continually on her mobile phone (looking up words/spellings etc,.) Despite repeated requests, she continued to use it.
So, one day, I asked her if I could take a look at her phone. She handed it to me and I took it to the podium and carefully placed it on there. I smiled at the class, asked them to remain seated and then ... left the classroom
I waited outside for two minutes, then returned still smiling. I asked them what they had learned from the "teacher" at the podium (the mobile phone) in my absence The mobile phone never entered the classroom after that Fond memories.

 

I salute you too and best of luck!!

 

I dont know whether it applies to most words or only some, but in Chinese the same word has a different meaning if pronounced in a different tone and "music". That is probably the reason why they have such skilled young musicians...

 

Indeed, I remember (with amusement) that the word "ma" has five different meanings depending on the tone used. One of my sons has just completed a course in Mandarin as an element of his degree; he really enjoyed those modules (now it's for his results).

Must be difficult if you're born tone deaf though

 

I'm always amused when I hear a person speaking their second language because the accent used reveals the nationality of the teacher. Too much fun!

I had to teach one of my grandchildren grade 11 Quadratics last year and he did well with the lessons. Probably because I also gave my sincere opinion about the course materials as we studied together. Such comments as " What a load of rubbish, you will never use this in real life but you have to understand it to get your credit". and "Now I remember why there were parts of high school that I hated" and " this is total moo poo" and on and on. But he got the message that he had to learn it and shove that experience behind him..

 

In hindsight, looking back at my schooldays, I can divide them into "pre-11+" and "post 11+."

Pre 11+ I had respect for the teachers as regards discipline, but not as regards teaching. I found myself ill prepared for Post 11+ school life.

In that second period, I have resect for just one of those teachers. He was a natural teacher, and got the best out of us all. The only one of all of them that had a 100% GCE pass rate through his whole career.

The last time I was in "school" as such was when I moved here and did the language course. The style was totally different to what I had expected but they managed to teach me Swedish. A minor miracle!

Whether or not I have respect for the teachers of today, I cannot say. Judging from my experiences here, the answer would be yes I do. Having said that, I do feel that educational standards have dropped since my day. The question I would ask is whether or not that is due to poor teachers, or the whole educational system? If teachers as a whole think that they cannot get the best out of all students due to the system, then they should fight to change it! If they dont, that does not do anything to gain my respect.