In my Practicum class, I was discussing my unit plan ideas with my professor. She told me what she wanted me to do, and I told her I didn't think I could; I didn't have the know how. She pushed me, and I pushed back. I left that conversation the most frustrated I had ever been with a professor and wrote a good, quality unit plan, based on her expectations, not mine.
One of my favorite poems my Emily Dickinson starts, "We never know how high we are/'til we are asked to rise." While many high school students may be exceptions, many others just do enough. They do what they have to to make the grade, and it's good work. They might even get As and Bs for it, but they are not doing their best.
I want to frustrate students. I want to push them places they think they can't go, and watch as they realize they can, and that maybe they can go even farther. I want my students to remember me as the teacher who took the time to know them well enough to challenge them just the way they needed to be challenged. I want them to say, "Ms. Oblander made me so angry, but looking back, I'm glad."
That professor sounds like she was a big pain! :) I'm glad you're having an exciting start.
ReplyDeleteI love the last part. That is so spot on with what I want to do. Pushing the students the way they need to be pushed is exactly what all teachers nowadays need to do. Most of the time they're just doing the bare minimum to get the test scores. We need to do what the students need rather than what the schools need to get more money.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I think anyway.