| A Word Edgewise
by Mary Joe Clendenin |
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TEACHING WITH MY OWN IN CLASS
To some teachers, teaching with their own children in class can be a real problem. I'm not sure how students view the situation--mine have told me something about their experiences many years after the fact. Actually, I think a teacher is pushed to do his/her best in such a situation. I certainly had opportunity to form an opinion, since I had my three children in my classes, three or more years each.
In Cloudcroft, NM, I taught four years of high school mathematics and then either English or math for seventh or eighth graders, depending upon which was needed. There was no way my children could avoid me as their teacher.
As it turned out, it was the best thing that ever happened for me--and I don't think it was so bad for Pat, Mike and Melissa. Pat and Mike were in the same class and Melissa six grades behind them. I tried very hard to show no partiality, and I think I succeeded. For some reason of their own, to be like the other students, I suppose, all three called me "Mrs. C". Seldom was heard "Mother", even when skies were cloudy all day.
I remember once when other high school teachers were bothered by students chewing gum in class--I guess there were fourteen teachers in high school. The group decided we should have a rule against chewing gum. I never even noticed gum chewing, unless they were blowing bubbles, but the others said, "We have to stick together on this. It won't do any good if some teachers let them get by with it." Majority rules, so I said I would enforce the rule, too.
The next day, I was on my guard as the students came into the room. Guess who was chewing gum. Mike--so I sent him to the office. The principal, Mr. Lane, got so tickled he could hardly administer the promised swat. As far as I know, no other student came into my class chewing gum.
Mike was a very good student. He had always worked hard to please his other teachers and himself, and he did the same in my room. His understanding was above average and he worked independently. Pat, on the other hand, was never an excellent student. He learned quickly when it was something he wanted to know for some purpose of his own, but what he wanted to learn and what teachers taught were not often congruent. Besides that, he didn't tune in to explanations given to a group. He only heard when I talked directly to him. After demonstrating procedures, explaining and assigning problems, I walked around to see that students were working correctly. When I got to Pat, there he sat. I'd ask, "Why are you not working, Pat?" He'd say, "You haven't explained it to me yet." So, I'd explain all over again.
Once, Pat was making worse than usual progress. He didn't hand in homework, wasn't working in class, just killing time. When report cards were issued, he got an "F" in math. That stinker was happy! He said, "Mom, Mike Rogers said I couldn't make an "F" in your class." No, I didn't kill him. After that he proceeded at his usual pace, "B's" and "C's".
Melissa was convinced that she was dumb when she was in the third grade. We had been working for several years to help her improve her self-esteem--and she had improved some. Geometry seemed difficult to her. She said I lost her in the circle among the inscribed angles, central angles and tangents. But now, she is an excellent teacher. She made excellent grades in college. The chance to be in classes without other students that she had known for twelve years, allowed her to change her behavior. (This situation often occurs. Students behave in ways that other students and teachers expect. Since they were accustomed to her being an average or below student, that's what she was.) Experiencing years of discouragement gives her special insight, as a teacher, to student needs.
So, my three were representatives of three different types of learners--and of course, I tried extra hard to understand and help them. If you want labels, Mike was left-brain dominant, a logical sequential thinker, who worked from the particulars to the general. He worked through the details and understood every step--and he wanted to please his teachers, so he followed instructions.
Pat was somewhat right-brain dominant, an intuitive thinker, who saw the whole without the details, at first. He often knew the answers to the problems without knowing how to work them. Metaphoric teaching worked best for him, but he was often lost in day dreams.
. Melissa was primarily an oral learner, learning from listening more than from reading. She drew pictures to remind her what the teacher said, rather than taking notes. All three grew to be leaders in their chosen fields--and I learned much more about teaching from them than from any other experiences I had. They challenged me to make clear, interesting explanations, and told me at home when I didn't come up to their expectations. It was great. They could have made my life in their classrooms miserable, but they chose not to.