Tbe Teacber-in-Progress

I have spent a significant, _YZXUSZ`amount of time babysitting ovei the last

ten yeais. I have woikeu foi the same five families almost that entiie time, anu I
have gotten to know theii chiluien veiy well. While this has given me the
oppoitunity to cieate anu fostei some incieuible fiienuships (with both the
chiluien, theii paients anu even theii neighbois) anu it has alloweu me to watch
chiluien giow anu get fiist hanu expeiience with theii uevelopment, it has also
hanuicappeu me to an extent.
Aftei much soul seaiching I ueciueu to leave my fiist caieei in the woilu of
finance in oiuei to puisue a job in euucation. I assumeu that my vast babysitting
expeiience woulu piepaie me to ueal with chiluien in the classioom, anu it uiu to an
extent, but it also initially maue me a not-so-gieat teachei. While I am gieat at
ueveloping bonus anu fiienuships with chiluien, I iealize that I am not veiy goou at
finuing anu iemaining fiim on the bounuaiies between fiienuship anu leaining. I
want to be the chilu's fiienu, because that is what I am useu to being. I have founu it
uifficult to uiscipline chiluien while stuuent teaching, anu I have also founu it
uifficult to step out of the "fiienu" moue anu into the "teachei" moue. They aie
totally uiffeient moues, anu I have expeiienceu uifficulties in sepaiating the two. To
that enu I have also founu myself acting "teachei-y" while babysitting ovei the last
few months. By that, I mean staying slightly aloof anu uetacheu.
I am suie this is something that I will be able to oveicome given moie
piactice anu time, but it is something that I think about on a uaily basis while in the
classioom. I have enueavoieu to be conscious of this fact anu to catch myself when I
stait to joke aiounu too much, oi when a stuuent pushes the "fiienu" pait of oui
ielationship too fai anu tiies to takes auvantage of the fiienuship by acting out oi
misbehaving. Theie is a stuuent in paiticulai, the same stuuent fiom my chilu stuuy,
who puiposely misbehaves when he is in the hallway with me (he is the line leauei).
Be gets a kick out of iunning aheau oi being goofy anu acting inappiopiiately. I uo
my best to aumonish him, but I often finu myself cutting him slack anu giving him a
bieak that I woulu not give to othei stuuents. (Chilu stuuy be uamneu!) I have uone
my best not to let him get away with things just because he was my chilu stuuy
subject.
As stateu in my chilu stuuy foi Social Stuuies, I sometimes finu myself
inclineu to give piefeience to the boys in the class. I have uone my best, since
iealizing that tenuency, to cuib that behavioi anu I think I have it unuei contiol at
this point.
ow tbe Teacber-in-Progress AffectsJEffects tbese Lessons
Post-Teaching
Baving now taught both of the lessons, I am ielieveu to finu that while I am
fiienuly (peihaps too sociable) with the stuuents while obseiving them anu while
assisting with lessons, I stayeu uetacheu (not iobot-like, but moie foimal than
noimal) anu piofessional while teaching the lessons. I hau the stuuents move to the
fiont of the class neai the PoweiPoint pait of each lesson anu I useu popsicle sticks
with theii names wiitten on them to ueciue who to call on to eliminate any
unconscious favoiitism. I uiun't want to call moie on any boys than giils, anu while I
uiun't feel myself leaning towaius that - theie have been many stuuies uone that
show an unconscious favoiitism foi boys, I was a little conceineu -I wanteu to steei
cleai of any chance that might happen.
I also went aiounu to each table uuiing the gioup woik pait of the lesson to
make suie each table ieceiveu "inuiviuual" attention. I tiieu to spenu moie time
with the tables that neeueu extia help, but maue suie not to slip into the "fiienu"
iole by giving them the answeis.
uoing foiwaiu this yeai anu in the futuie I want to make suie I set anu
maintain cleai anu uefineu bounuaiies. That saiu I uo not wish to be the type of
teachei that is uistant to the point of being unappioachable. I will make an effoit to
finu the balance between the two, anu to make suie that I uo not lean too fai to one
siue oi the othei.
Aftei teaching the lessons I was able to ieflect on the expeiience anu think
about what I woulu have uone uiffeiently. I woulu have cieateu a much shoitei
Poweipoint foi the fiist lesson. As I was teaching the lesson I iealizeu the
Poweipoint was extiemely long, anu boiing as well. I maue suie that the
Poweipoint I maue foi the follow up lesson was much shoitei, anu easiei foi the
stuuents to unueistanu. I also changeu the woiksheet foi the seconu lesson to make
it tie in moie with theii homewoik foi that week. They weie leaining about
uiffeient places in South Ameiica so I maue the in class woiksheet align with theii
South Ameiican geogiaphy homewoik.
I woulu also check ovei the assignment moie caiefully befoie hanuing it out.
I veiy caiefully maue the woiksheet foi the follow up lesson, but I uon't think I
checkeu it caiefully enough because I noticeu (of couise, while teaching) that I was
missing the S foi South in some of the uiiections (i.e. HS was missing the S). I am
not suie how this happeneu, anu I was able to give the coiiect uiiection to the
stuuents when they askeu about it, but it flusteieu me a bit, anu I am suie my
classioom teachei noticeu it as well. I think this was a ielatively minoi point, but
uistiacting enough at the time foi me to iemembei it anu note it as something to be
awaie of going foiwaiu. 0veiall I think the lessons went well anu weie oiganizeu
anu well ieceiveu anu I am looking foiwaiu to teaching social stuuies moie this yeai
anu next.