Hi all! This is Analin reporting from a Shanghai classroom. I’ve been spending a lot of time on these. This one focuses on a job swap I recently did.
I honestly think that people should have the chance once in their lifetimes to switch positions with their significant others and try to do their jobs. I’m sure you’d learn much about yourself and probably complain and nag less.
A couple of weeks ago, I had just that chance for four days.
I’ve always said if I ever taught, I’d like to teach something other than elementary. I thought it was a matter of age preference, but I discovered I was wrong during those four days.
Elementary kids still want to impress their teachers – at least most of them – so they will try to work hard. Those who don’t might be correctly motivated or need to work on their attention span. I had a lot of fun teaching those 4th graders. Their personalities are fresher. They are – I think – more fearless than other kids. They can laugh at themselves more easily. They try harder. They find genuine happiness in things we have forgotten about.
The topics taught at the elementary level are not super appealing to my over-analytic mind. However, I found the challenge of simplifying and re-analyzing a concept to find different ways for kids to understand it fascinating.
Coming from a family of teachers, I’ve always understood the importance and value of dedicated teachers who truly have the kids’ best interest at heart – help them learn, guide them towards thriving, cultivate a mindset that gives them a global conscience, promote service to others and working together as teams, regardless of our differences. Whether our children learn these values early will dictate our future.
Would I teach elementary in the future? Maybe. Younger kids are not so bad. They’re quite fun.
Are teachers the superheroes I thought they were? ABSOLUTELY. How do you reach the end of the day, having to teach and watch over X number of kids with a decent energy level? By 1 pm, I was passing out every single day. It’s exhausting!
Substitute teaching has been a great learning experience. I look forward to getting better at it.
Stay classy,
Analin
P. D – On a “do a thing a day that scares you” note: I substituted for one class period for a pre-k class yesterday! Everyone who knows me can tell you that I can be quite wary of toddlers. There was some crying in the classroom (thankfully I wasn’t responsible for any of it – it was just sad tears because mommy or daddy is leaving), but it was generally fine. Three-year-olds can be pretty adorable. If you don’t think so, you don’t know my nephew Ernie. He’s the cutest.