I believe it is important to be authoritative and not an authoritarian. I enjoyed this article because I find myself practicing and believing in dealing with students in ways presented in this reading. I know that the first battle with teaching students in high-poverty schools is consistency. So it will take at least 1 week for a student to believe that you will be there in the morning, that you will smile when you see them, that you will be a consistent part of their life. Then, the next step is to trust that you care. Trust that you care about their well being, their success; trust that you will listen to them and trust that you believe in them. This is where a teacher who practices patience, tolerance, understanding, communication will build trust with their students so that they trust that the relationship you have with them is to help them be better. This is when a positive and healthy teaching and learning relationship begins.
A question I have is where to draw the line between being the teacher as warm demander versus being a passive teacher? How do you come across demanding and warm, and not as "nice one minute" and "mean the next"?
No comments:
Post a Comment