Teaching would be easier if it wasn't for the students
Here's what happened the other day.
My grade 8 students were exiting our classroom from social studies, as my grade 6 students began to enter.
I was getting myself focused on teaching a lesson on sentence writing, with an emphasis on using commas. I was thinking about how I could teach my students to write with a variety of sentence lengths so that their writing might flow for the reader.
I was trying to figure out how I was going to teach them how to use independent and dependent clauses to make short, medium and long sentences without boring them to death by talking about independent and dependent clauses.
I was proud that I had completely abstained from using the school's photocopier until the third week of school for a one-page handout on sentence writing.
But before half the class could even arrive, Kevin and Thomas were engaged in yet another one of their daily disagreements. Despite the obvious that they want to be friends, and that they need each other to get through the day, Kevin and Thomas's lagging social skills continue to set each other at odds.
Kevin was pissed right off and wouldn't even come in the classroom. He was going home.
Thomas came in but he was both denying and avoiding Kevin's accusations over a missing Rubik's Cube.
I immediately caught myself being completely annoyed by this spat.
I don't have time for this!
I had a lesson on sentences to teach! I didn't have time to worry about some stupid Rubik's Cube that may or may not have been stolen!
Sometimes it's tempting to think about how much easier teaching would be if it wasn't for the students -- Sometimes it's challenging to remember that there is no teaching without for the love of learning: Teaching would be easier if it wasn't for the students:
My grade 8 students were exiting our classroom from social studies, as my grade 6 students began to enter.
I was getting myself focused on teaching a lesson on sentence writing, with an emphasis on using commas. I was thinking about how I could teach my students to write with a variety of sentence lengths so that their writing might flow for the reader.
I was trying to figure out how I was going to teach them how to use independent and dependent clauses to make short, medium and long sentences without boring them to death by talking about independent and dependent clauses.
I was proud that I had completely abstained from using the school's photocopier until the third week of school for a one-page handout on sentence writing.
But before half the class could even arrive, Kevin and Thomas were engaged in yet another one of their daily disagreements. Despite the obvious that they want to be friends, and that they need each other to get through the day, Kevin and Thomas's lagging social skills continue to set each other at odds.
Kevin was pissed right off and wouldn't even come in the classroom. He was going home.
Thomas came in but he was both denying and avoiding Kevin's accusations over a missing Rubik's Cube.
I immediately caught myself being completely annoyed by this spat.
I don't have time for this!
I had a lesson on sentences to teach! I didn't have time to worry about some stupid Rubik's Cube that may or may not have been stolen!
Sometimes it's tempting to think about how much easier teaching would be if it wasn't for the students -- Sometimes it's challenging to remember that there is no teaching without for the love of learning: Teaching would be easier if it wasn't for the students: