My friend told me this summer to expect failure as a student teacher and it scared me because I did not feel confident that I would be a good teacher and I want to be an awesome teacher.
However, as I have gone through student teaching I have realized that in order to be a good teacher I need to fail in order to become a good teacher. No one is born knowing or able to learn from books/classes how to be a great teacher. This only comes with practice and experiences.
This learning process is difficult for me not only because I am impatient but also because it means I have to fail in order to learn. I hate the fact that I have to fail or screw up to learn. I have spent most of my life trying to avoid feeling weak or stupid but I realized that if I fail it doesn't stop there. What is important is what I do after I fail.
It doesn't matter if we fail at something as long as we figure out how we can turn it around and learn from our mistakes. This is a life lesson I have already figured out but when it came to student teaching or classes in general I have always had a hard time accepting it.
I have had many professors that have told me that they want students to fail papers or tests because it is a good learning experience because we all need to know what it feels like to fail something completely. I always have found this to be kind of maniacal but now it makes sense. I hate feeling like I am failing my students through this process because I am not capable of teaching content the best way from the beginning. But how can I expect myself to be able to do that when I have never taught it before? Coming up with ideas of how to teach material is one thing but you cannot fully understand until you actually teach.
What we have to remember more than anything is that we cannot let the fear of screwing up stop us from living and learning. If I constantly worry about doing things perfectly I'll never end up doing anything. I will never be perfect, or be a perfect teacher but that doesn't matter. What matters is that I am concerned with continually learning how to teach better and that I don't settle. How you grow because of the failure in the end is more important than the failure.
1 comment:
Laura I also learned this lesson during student teaching. It is a hard one to grasp and to get over as a new teacher. You just need to learn that all you can do is try your best and have the best intentions while teaching your students.
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