Walking into my second school visit this week, I was a little bit surprised by how much more confident I felt having had one previous day at a middle school. The two middle schools that I visited were both distinctly different in many ways, yet I had a much better idea about how things were structured, and what to expect upon entering the building. Whereas last week my main priority was to get a sense of what a middle school really was in general and how it functioned, this week my goal was to spend more time interacting with the students in classes that I visited and to get a sense of the differences between different classes.
Coincidentally, I viewed pretty much all of the classes that I did not get to visit last week–a range of social studies classes, science classes, and technology education classes. Given the way my schedule worked out, I followed three different groups of students throughout their day, and had more chances to interact with them.
One thing that I noticed was that there seemed to be a few more special needs students compared to the last school. I suspect that this is because most of the classes that I visited last week were gifted classes, hence the requirements bar some students from entering. Regardless, having special needs students in a classroom alters classroom dynamics. From what I witnessed in the classrooms this week, there did not appear to be any negativity towards the special needs students, hence I am optimistic that middle school students today are better-instructed about being respectful to those students.
Another thing that I noticed was that some classes seemed to be friendlier with me than other classes. The highlight of my day was when a group of students in one class (their homeroom class), who had finished their homework, actively approached me to ask questions, and also willingly invited me to get involved with what they were doing. The group of boys were playing with Rainbow Loom (unexpected, but definitely a good thing), and I watched them for awhile before going to see what all the other students were doing. When I returned, one of the boys asked if I wanted him to show me how to make a bracelet, and so I spent the next little while trying to make my own bracelet! When I returned to the class at the end of the day (after having observed teachers in different classes), several of the students who were working on their projects looked up at me with a smile, and one boy even added “you’re back!”
I tried to take this conversation in about five different tangents from here, but to attempt to keep my thoughts in one direction, I’ll refrain from discussing any of them at length. When I mentioned my observation about the differences between the two classes, the teacher agreed with me enthusiastically. To her, she believed that a large part of that difference came from the different teachers in charge of the classes, and noted how important it was for teachers to create the open atmosphere for students to be able to interact freely. I agree with her sentiments, however I also believe that another part of the reason why it was easier to connect with the students was because the teacher gave me a chance to do a self-introduction at the beginning of class, where I disclosed a bit of my hobbies rather than just my name. Although some of our lectures so far have mentioned that the goal of connecting with students is to “get close to them–but not to be their friends”. I have very mixed feelings about this opinion–but I will address this at another time. Additionally, I believe that the different situations in which I encountered the classes (this class in particular, was mostly playing games rather than working on an assignment) made a difference.
One of my biggest and continuous challenges moving forward will be to figure out how to connect with students in my classroom and to what extent. What is the most efficient way to connect with students? How can I, as an aspiring educator, connect with each of my students on a personal level? Where do I draw the line of how involved I get with their lives? How do I deal with students who are more difficult to connect with? And so, my list of questions goes on. Hopefully I will find some suggestions/guidance (if not answers) to my question as the year progresses.