Maybe teaching isn’t for me. I tend to teach the way I parented and I am not sure that is what is always “expected.”
I am not one to do for others. I don’t mean that in a “serve your fellow man” kind of way. I try to be thoughtful and helpful when I can be. I try to do unto others. I try to be mindful of what I say and what I do towards others always. Most of what I do is “volunteer work.” However, when it comes to kids, I try to let them do for themselves.
I’ll give you an example. Several weeks ago, I was volunteering with some kids and it was snack time. I am a believer in taking ownership of what is going on around you and I think kids should learn to help themselves and each other rather than being waited on. I think they should help clean up after they eat or do an activity. I think chores are a good thing. I think kids should do their own homework, so the teachers can see what they actually have learned and need to work on, not what their mom knows.
I also like to see kids think for themselves and be creative. During this snack time one of the little boys took the juice from his fruit cup and poured it ever so carefully into his water, keeping the fruit from falling in. I thought that would probably taste pretty good, so I just watched him from afar. He then thought about it a second and poured his fruit into the water. I stepped a little closer, still letting him experiment. So far he had made no mess and was looking into his cup in anticipation. He took his spoon and was about to reach it into the mixture when another volunteer swooped in and took the whole thing away from him, admonishing him for wasting food and threw the whole thing in the trash.
I had a lot of mixed emotions all at once. First off, since I am not filled with confidence, I realized I might be a horrible teacher. I had been watching the child like you watch a science experiment and I should have been the one to move in and stop the “waste.” At the same time I saw the confused look on the boy’s face and realized that he had every intention of eating the fruit, just a little differently from the other kids. The person who “wasted” the food was the adult who quickly whisked it all into the trash can.
I was there to make sure no mess was made and I was there to be sure he didn’t choke. With no trauma looming, he was not hurting anything by doing things a little differently. I felt for the kid. I just walked away shaking my head. I wanted to go talk to him, but didn’t want to start a stink with the other adult.
In a different setting last week, during week two of theatre camp, my three groups rehearsed the plays I had picked out for them. Don’t tell anyone, but I sort of cheated with one play. I really couldn’t find a play to fit the criteria I needed- eleven fairly equal parts that a group of high schoolers would enjoy. I found a short play with 5 characters and an interesting premise, so I took that idea and wrote my own play. PLEASE don’t tell anyone!!
I was a nervous wreck when the kids did the first read through. It was kind of dorky and if they hated it, I had no one to blame but myself. I can’t tell you if they actually liked it, they are actors after all, but they bought into it and went for it. Six of the characters were acts “auditioning” for a talent show and although they had lines, they also had suggestions for some ad libs. The kids took the parts and made them their own, unique and funny.
I sat back and watched them, just like I did the kid with his water and fruit cup. I stood near enough to help if I saw any potential for danger, but I let them be creative and different. And were they ever! They made me laugh every single time we ran through the show!
Now the other two groups were younger and needed a little more guidance, although I let them add some of their own ideas in as well. But the fact that those older kids took my ideas and built on them was a collaboration I will not soon forget.
Is teaching spoon feeding kids with what they “should” know and do? Or is it giving them a frame work and letting them go for it? Do we give them the tools and let them build or do we give them detailed instructions so it all goes together the way we have decided it should? I guess there is room for both styles of teaching, and sometimes we have to do one or the other. I’m just not a big proponent of doing too much for kids.
I like to think my son turned out to be such a hard worker, so creative and successful, because I let him experiment and let him fail. I let him make a mess sometimes and I let him do it his own way most of the time. Because of that he is messier than I am. (Most people are! I know I’m annoying, I’m working on it. Kind of. Not really.) Lots of time he approaches things in a much different way than I would. But he is more confident and has more common sense than I ever thought about having. Just like the kids in acting class, he has far surpassed his “teacher.” And I am proud of all of these kids, for being creative, doing great work and being better than I could ever be! Maybe it was just dumb luck, but I think it is better when I step back and don’t do too much for them!! Not much of a pitch for them bringing me back to teach next year- “I am best when I don’t do much!” (But I would surely work with these kids again any time!)
Oh, well! On to the next adventure!
