I've spent the last couple of hours writing comments on the kids' report cards. My neck and shoulders are aching (but this could easily be from yesterday's Ju-Jitsu class, I lost count of how many push ups Nadine made us do- the woman's evil!:P).
So anyway, I was provided with a list of comments to serve as a "guideline", I'm supposed to try to stick to them. Gee, so much for freedom of speech.
But I've worked out a system (at least in my brain!), there are two categories:
1. What the ready-made comment says
2. What I REALLY mean.
Examples include:
Ready comment:
Needs to take more active part in class discussion
What I really mean:
The boy's in a completely different dimension!
Ready comment:
He is easily distracted.
What I really mean:
He'd rather count the knots in the carpet than listen to what I say
Ready comment:
Needs constant supervision
What I really mean:
Soon I'll be gluing him to his seat!!!
Ready comment:
Must use time to his advantage.
What I really mean:
Constantly talks to his imaginary friend.
Course, there's the positive as well.....
Ready made:
Excellent classroom behavior
What I mean:
boy's an angel!
Ready made:
Grasps new concepts readily
What I mean:
boy's a genius!
Ready made:
A pleasure to have in class.
What I mean:
He's the cutest thing! Can I take him?:D
Hmmm, I must say, I can see why they'd go for their version!
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7 comments:
You can tell I've been drowning in work when I totally missed a post. Totally missed the tickling :)
Good luck with the comments sis. I laugh to think that it's now your turn to write them after all those years of getting "commented" on :P
In that book I gave you, there were some helpful suggestions for comments, if I recall correctly. Hehe.
LOL
I never looked at it this way- yep, all these years of being scrutinized and commented on. Time for PAY PACK BABY;)
But really, they sucked the excitment out of it with their "ready-made comments":s
Oh!! the comments in the book you game me? now THAT'S something I wouldn't mind usin at ALL;P
I think you should give the parents your code to the comments. :-)
You asked for advice on my blog - thanks for the comment, by the way - and my best advice is just to live ten and then twenty more years. I think I've been slow to overcome my weaknesses - not that I've succeeded yet. But I would give this advice, too, to spend these years of your early adulthood learning what your strengths are and developing or capitalizing on those as much as you can. A coworker of mine used to say: The best teacher is one who teaches from her strengths. There is no one best method or approach for everyone - to the extent that you have freedom to do your job the way you want, exploit it to its fullest.
Also, find some way of recording your successes, through journaling or collecting comments from students or their improved scores at the end of their classes. When something negative comes your way - a child or parent complains about your class, for instance, or your best students fail a test - if, like me, you're devastated by that sort of thing, always hold it up to your successes in comparison. Over time, you'll have much more success/positive feedback than negative, but it can be hard to see that if the negative stuff blinds you emotionally. So, always keep things in perspective.
Having supportive relationships with colleagues is also really helpful, especially ones who are similar to you in personality.
For me, having this personality that I really do want to be liked has an upside and a downside. The downside, maybe, is obvious. But on the other hand, I'm pretty good at sussing out my students, what they enjoy, what they need from me, what works for them, and providing it to them in a way that also makes sense pedagogically to me. My students have generally commented that I have patience with them, and they feel that I care about them. And I think that's important to their learning.
This comment would have been better sent as email, but I don't see your address. Mine is nheiges at gmail dot com - I'm always happy to talk about stuff like teaching and adult development.
A final comment: it sounds to me like you're a gifted teacher and it's not going to take you a long time at all come into your own. In sha allah. :-)
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