Final Reflection

As yesterday was my last day at Sue Cleveland, I thought it would be appropriate to post my final entry from my teaching journal. Some of you will recognize several of these points from my previous "Things Learned" list. I've been keeping it going, and here it is in final form:

Things I've learned through student teaching:
- children will lick any envelope given them.
- two excellent composers of children's choral music: Andy Beck, Linda Spaveck
- all solemn men in paintings are presidents. Most likely George Washington.
- glue guns and Post-it Notes are your friends
- the floors in primary classrooms are tile for a reason: summed up in one word, "moppable"
- the inventor of the laminating machine is worthy of a Nobel Prize
- there's a such thing as a task analysis, and consequences when you forget it
- they're always watching. Always.
- they always copy you. Especially when you hope they WEREN'T watching
- love the secretary and janitor-- they are very important Friends to have.
- your first name is "Miss"
- Squidward plays the clarinet
- explosions and natural disasters are the best motivators for boys starting in 4th grade. maybe before...
- children find routine comforting: if you don't give them a routine, they'll make one, even if it's something as simple as saying "bringit around town!" every time they warm up their bodies for singing.
- children are people. Small, yes. Incomplete? no. They have feelings, backgrounds, opinions, likes, dislikes, fears and hopes just like anybody else.
- kids tune out talking. but they're ALWAYS watching (see previous point).
- "ta ta ti-ti ta" is a universally shushing rhythm
- anything you say in class can and will be used against you :)
- you have the right to remain silent.
- laughing is infectious, and SO much fun
- just like everyone else, kids want to know 1) that you know what you're talking about and 2)that you care about who you're talking to
- no one likes to be shouted at
- teachers ask their kids for a lot of humility and teachability. I need to acknowledge that I'm asking them of them, and model both traits.
- tell a kid a story, you've got his attention; listen to HIS story, you've got a friend for life
- (the core belief of our school's Multi-Age classes:) "Tell me…I forget, Show me…I remember, Involve me…I understand!"
- they say teaching never pays enough, but they also say that no amount of money could buy the influence and reward a teacher gets. I've seen that both can be true... but more than either, I've learned this: a teacher must work for a Greater "well done, good and faithful servant." The kids won't know, can't know how much they should appreciate, and sometimes the burden will be too great to carry and the teacher will fall. Without a Higher Judge, there will be no room for grace, and a huge thirst for thanks that could never be satisfied. I'm aiming for that Greater Smile, and choosing to see it in the face of every student I have.