I appreciate the fact that as a TTOC teachers get to travel to different communities and be in many different classrooms.  Doing so allows us to get to know many different students and allows them to get to know us.  Also, we get to see the various programs that are put on at many of the different schools.

I am surprised to discover that as a TTOC I really enjoy teaching primary elementary schoolkids.  I say that I am surprised by that because I normally enjoy teaching more intellectual curriculum; however, teaching primary children is a rewarding experience too because students in that age-group are very enthusiastic learners.  Moreover, they are very endearing in that age-group and more willing to open up on a personal level to a new teacher whom they may have never met before.  I still like teaching high school students as well, but this experience of being a TTOC has opened me up to the possibility of becoming a primary elementary teacher too.

As a TTOC I have realized the importance there is in opening up to students and being myself.  Students are more willing to look at you as a normal human being if you are willing to share who you are.  They will also remember you more easily when you return to the school.  One way I get to know the students is by giving them the chance to ask me questions as an icebreaker before I begin to teach them (only for older students though).  If the questions make me uncomfortable, I just say, ‘No comment.’  In other cases, I play the students a song on the guitar if we have had a productive day, or teach them a game in gym (if I feel that the teacher is alright with me doing so and not intent on having me do the activity s/he had assigned in the lesson plan).  Allowing the students the chance to get to know you – even if for only a day – makes the experience of teaching at that particular school much more rewarding.