For those of you who read my very first post, "Pre-first day teaching jitters," you would know there are four things I have always wondered about teachers. Now that I have taught for exactly one month, I´ll share some insight into what I have found.
The first question:
1. Does the teacher never have to go to the bathroom?
LIE! I mentioned in an earlier post that I would tell the students to do an activity if I ever needed to take a quick piss. When you have to pee, 2 minutes tops is all you need, and you´re good, but when you have to go, like #2 go, an activity won´t buy you enough time. Well maybe it will, but your stomach can’t predict that! I was hoping this would never happen, but it did. It wasn’t because I ate something weird to upset my stomach..it’s because it is that time of the month. Ladies, you know what I´m talking about. Boys, well if you have a sister or a mother you should know what I´m talking about, and if you don’t, I see you’ve mentally blocked out 6th grade science class. Every girl reacts differently during this oh so wonderful time, and I have the horrible end of it. I have stomach cramps, stomach aches, mood swings (although my sister could argue that this happens not just during this time of the month), etc. So Thursday morning I wake up with it and thought how am I going to get through this day. My first three classes weren´t bad, I was able to handle all the pain with grace. You know that feeling when you really have to shit, but you can´t. Well that may be one of my top 5 worst feelings, after the heartache I feel when Allie and Noah split ways in the notebook. I had the worst aching my last class. I sat down the whole lecture because my stomach hurt too much, and I tried to make up for sitting down by using a lot of hand motion so it didn´t look like I was just too lazy to stand up. I probably looked like I was swatting at flies the whole time. Every activity I had was less than 5 minutes, and I just knew that wasn´t enough time. You know when you have a friend at a restaurant or when you first get to a bar who says, “Hey, I´m going to go to the bathroom real quick”. If they don´t come back in a couple of minutes, you know what´s going on in there, and nothing needs to be explicitly said although in your head you might be judging just a little bit. Well, I didn´t want this happening to me so I held it in alright. I know ....TMI but whatever, I know you were all just dying to know the answer to this question.
The second question:
2. Do teachers really believe that no question is stupid?
LIE! I believe that there are stupid questions, as I have asked a bunch myself, and I know teachers think it in their head but don’t say it aloud. But in my opinion, in the specific case of a language classroom, no question is stupid. As I've come to find out, learning a completely foreign language is difficult. "What's the difference between 'I'm going v. I will be going?" "Why are so many words pronounced the same but have different meanings, like 'bare' and 'bear' or 'read' v 'red.'?" When learning a new language, everything is completely new! Maybe you already know a couple words here and there, but there’s so much vocabulary and grammar that it might be impossible to know every single one. So in summary, yes there are stupid questions but the teacher, for the purpose of encouraging students to be active and participate, will say there are none.
The third question:
3. How do teachers hold it together all [most] of the time?
They don't. We're human. I laugh at my own mistakes and embarrassing situations, students laugh at my mistakes and themselves (most of the time). But I will say that I may be the worst at trying to keep it together. When I laugh, I laugh, and it’s very hard to stop me. When I think of something funny, I laugh, and look like a fool as the topic being discussed is not funny by any means. I guess this will take practice and some time.
The fourth question:
4. What if a teacher doesn't know the answer to a question a student asks?
Again, this happens, we’re human. You know that feeling in class, when a teacher asks you a question when you weren’t raising your hand and you have no idea the answer, or even worse you weren’t even listening so you don’t know the question. Well that same feeling happens as a teacher. Most teachers probably don’t feel it, but I definitely did. “What’s indelible mean teacher?” *in my head* Okay, maybe I’ll make up the definition. But then what if that student starts to use that word and misuses it every time because of me. Hmm it kind of sounds like edible so if its “in” then maybe it means something that can’t be taken in. “Um, I should know, but I don’t.” Yes, we’re all thinking it—how was I a top student in h.s and a graduate of the University of Virginia, and I don’t even know the definition of indelible. For those of you curious folks, it means something that can’t be eliminated, forgotten, or changed so…maybe my thought process was kind of close?
Well, those are all my insights so far. Here’s to bringing my ibuprofen everywhere I go, keeping it together, practicing my poker face, and having an English dictionary by my side….always.
Yours truly,
TLT
The first question:
1. Does the teacher never have to go to the bathroom?
LIE! I mentioned in an earlier post that I would tell the students to do an activity if I ever needed to take a quick piss. When you have to pee, 2 minutes tops is all you need, and you´re good, but when you have to go, like #2 go, an activity won´t buy you enough time. Well maybe it will, but your stomach can’t predict that! I was hoping this would never happen, but it did. It wasn’t because I ate something weird to upset my stomach..it’s because it is that time of the month. Ladies, you know what I´m talking about. Boys, well if you have a sister or a mother you should know what I´m talking about, and if you don’t, I see you’ve mentally blocked out 6th grade science class. Every girl reacts differently during this oh so wonderful time, and I have the horrible end of it. I have stomach cramps, stomach aches, mood swings (although my sister could argue that this happens not just during this time of the month), etc. So Thursday morning I wake up with it and thought how am I going to get through this day. My first three classes weren´t bad, I was able to handle all the pain with grace. You know that feeling when you really have to shit, but you can´t. Well that may be one of my top 5 worst feelings, after the heartache I feel when Allie and Noah split ways in the notebook. I had the worst aching my last class. I sat down the whole lecture because my stomach hurt too much, and I tried to make up for sitting down by using a lot of hand motion so it didn´t look like I was just too lazy to stand up. I probably looked like I was swatting at flies the whole time. Every activity I had was less than 5 minutes, and I just knew that wasn´t enough time. You know when you have a friend at a restaurant or when you first get to a bar who says, “Hey, I´m going to go to the bathroom real quick”. If they don´t come back in a couple of minutes, you know what´s going on in there, and nothing needs to be explicitly said although in your head you might be judging just a little bit. Well, I didn´t want this happening to me so I held it in alright. I know ....TMI but whatever, I know you were all just dying to know the answer to this question.
The second question:
2. Do teachers really believe that no question is stupid?
LIE! I believe that there are stupid questions, as I have asked a bunch myself, and I know teachers think it in their head but don’t say it aloud. But in my opinion, in the specific case of a language classroom, no question is stupid. As I've come to find out, learning a completely foreign language is difficult. "What's the difference between 'I'm going v. I will be going?" "Why are so many words pronounced the same but have different meanings, like 'bare' and 'bear' or 'read' v 'red.'?" When learning a new language, everything is completely new! Maybe you already know a couple words here and there, but there’s so much vocabulary and grammar that it might be impossible to know every single one. So in summary, yes there are stupid questions but the teacher, for the purpose of encouraging students to be active and participate, will say there are none.
The third question:
3. How do teachers hold it together all [most] of the time?
They don't. We're human. I laugh at my own mistakes and embarrassing situations, students laugh at my mistakes and themselves (most of the time). But I will say that I may be the worst at trying to keep it together. When I laugh, I laugh, and it’s very hard to stop me. When I think of something funny, I laugh, and look like a fool as the topic being discussed is not funny by any means. I guess this will take practice and some time.
The fourth question:
4. What if a teacher doesn't know the answer to a question a student asks?
Again, this happens, we’re human. You know that feeling in class, when a teacher asks you a question when you weren’t raising your hand and you have no idea the answer, or even worse you weren’t even listening so you don’t know the question. Well that same feeling happens as a teacher. Most teachers probably don’t feel it, but I definitely did. “What’s indelible mean teacher?” *in my head* Okay, maybe I’ll make up the definition. But then what if that student starts to use that word and misuses it every time because of me. Hmm it kind of sounds like edible so if its “in” then maybe it means something that can’t be taken in. “Um, I should know, but I don’t.” Yes, we’re all thinking it—how was I a top student in h.s and a graduate of the University of Virginia, and I don’t even know the definition of indelible. For those of you curious folks, it means something that can’t be eliminated, forgotten, or changed so…maybe my thought process was kind of close?
Well, those are all my insights so far. Here’s to bringing my ibuprofen everywhere I go, keeping it together, practicing my poker face, and having an English dictionary by my side….always.
Yours truly,
TLT