This is an unfinished thought. I wasn’t going to post today because I can’t quite get my words in order but Husband guilt/nag/dared me so this will be unfinished but it will be posted. So there.
I start working with a new group of kids today, teaching theatre basics in an afterschool program at a school that’s under threat of closure. There’s nothing like the fear of failure to inspire a creative workspace for children. NOT. It’s frustrating that in this day and age, seeing the creative arts as an essential part of the learning process is still an anomaly – especially when schools and children are judged on test scores. Like theatre doesn’t enhance problem solving, language and independent thought and…. Ugh. I could go on but that’s not what this blurt is about… read this if you want facts Part of my teaching plan always includes a brief discussion about the rules for class, things we should and shouldn’t do to have a happy learning experience. I usually write a few key ones down and ask them to add to the list, often having them write them down (enhancing language, spelling, problem solving, independent thinking etc...) My basic rules are to listen, follow directions, play safe, respect yourself and others and my favorite, make good choices. Simple rules that cover a broad range and, when added to by the class, form great boundaries for a creative class. This year, I started adding the consequences to the list and having them expand on what those consequences might be. I find that kids don’t often seem think about what might happen if they do whatever it is they shouldn’t. I don’t have a solid reason why. Could be the lack of positive influences and the need to get attention, regardless of how. Could be the lack of parenting parameters or could just be that the consequences for bad behavior just aren’t as dire as they were when we were children. Nothing says ‘make a better choice’ than the threat of a beating from a nun. All I know is that while I was lying awake at 3am thinking about the list I had to write for class today and I realized I’ve not been applying the basic classroom rules I’m asking them to follow to my own life. I have thoroughly disregarded the whole ‘respect yourself and others’ and ‘make good choices’ rules… .... And that’s it. That’s all I have formed in my brain right now - that I have a problem with respect and choices and knowing my own worth. They say admitting you have a problem is half the battle… Yeah. BULL!!! That half isn’t doing a thing to fix the problem or writing a blurt…
2 Comments
Karen
9/28/2015 03:34:27 am
Ya know what - I am grateful that you posted this half-blurt. I think we all (okay, not the non-self-reflective peeps) have these realisations and it is totally okay to not know the answers. Our society is so solution focused that we can feel shite for not immediately figuring out the answers without acknowledging that this is okay .... and natural. So, thank ej!
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ej
9/28/2015 07:23:48 am
Karen - funny how the things I've been doing with kids for years are only now sinking in my brain. I've never been one to give them answers, always have them figure things out on their own and at their own pace and then here I am pushing myself to know all always. This growth thing is exhausting.
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AuthorMy name is ej. I'm a girl. I say that because with the short hair and the short initials, folks aren't always sure. More brilliant insights to who I am in About me Archives
April 2019
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