It's Not A Race
Sigh. I am my own worst enemy. The people who coined the term "standards-based" were obviously not familiar with the perfectionist population. Our standards for ourselves (and it often spills over into our standards for others) are already unrealistic. When we read "Students will be able to communicate in the target language.", we think it also includes the phrase, "without any errors, in complex and complete sentences, spontaneously, naturally and with native or near-native pronunciation, otherwise the teacher will look, feel and obviously be considered incompetent."
Silly huh?
Luckily, TPRS has cured me of much of that when it comes to my students. I'm still working on myself. These days I fall victim to the thoughts that spin in my head about my teaching skills. Did I go slowly enough? Did check for comprehension enough times? Did I connect with each child? Did I? Did I? Did I?
It's only week five in my district. Even after 25+ years (or maybe because of them) I think it should all come together overnight. It doesn't. It can't. It shouldn't. I know this intellectually. I feel this very strongly. I teach this to other teachers all the time. But my "inner perfectionista" still gets in my way. I need to relax. It's not a race. I try hard every day. I'm no slouch. But I am human. I am sometimes "better" one period than another. I'm not always as "prepared" for one class as another. I am sometimes tired, or sick, or overwhelmed, or anxious, or distracted. I don't win over every student. I don't save every soul. I don't convince every parent. And I am horrible about paperwork.
I tend to take a tiny snapshot of my work and grade the entire piece on one sliver, one moment, one pause in the action. On Ben Slavic's blog(www.benslavic.com) he has been relating TPRS to music. A musical piece is not one note, one rest, one beat, one measure. It's a series of repeated patterns and movements. My teaching should be as well. If I step back and look at the entire movement, I might find a piece of beauty, and allow myself to enjoy it more often.....not for it's "success",but for it's ebbs and flows, high notes, low notes (and maybe even the flat notes).
So what is teaching? And what isn't it?
It isn't supposed to all happen beautifully and at once. It's not transfiguration.
It's not something to be won. It's not a race.
It certainly isn't always easy to enjoy every day....but it is always something to appreciate.
It's a prayer.
It's a work of heart.
It's an investment of body, mind and soul.
It's a way of life.
And tomorrow is another day.
with love,
Laurie
Silly huh?
Luckily, TPRS has cured me of much of that when it comes to my students. I'm still working on myself. These days I fall victim to the thoughts that spin in my head about my teaching skills. Did I go slowly enough? Did check for comprehension enough times? Did I connect with each child? Did I? Did I? Did I?
It's only week five in my district. Even after 25+ years (or maybe because of them) I think it should all come together overnight. It doesn't. It can't. It shouldn't. I know this intellectually. I feel this very strongly. I teach this to other teachers all the time. But my "inner perfectionista" still gets in my way. I need to relax. It's not a race. I try hard every day. I'm no slouch. But I am human. I am sometimes "better" one period than another. I'm not always as "prepared" for one class as another. I am sometimes tired, or sick, or overwhelmed, or anxious, or distracted. I don't win over every student. I don't save every soul. I don't convince every parent. And I am horrible about paperwork.
I tend to take a tiny snapshot of my work and grade the entire piece on one sliver, one moment, one pause in the action. On Ben Slavic's blog(www.benslavic.com) he has been relating TPRS to music. A musical piece is not one note, one rest, one beat, one measure. It's a series of repeated patterns and movements. My teaching should be as well. If I step back and look at the entire movement, I might find a piece of beauty, and allow myself to enjoy it more often.....not for it's "success",but for it's ebbs and flows, high notes, low notes (and maybe even the flat notes).
So what is teaching? And what isn't it?
It isn't supposed to all happen beautifully and at once. It's not transfiguration.
It's not something to be won. It's not a race.
It certainly isn't always easy to enjoy every day....but it is always something to appreciate.
It's a prayer.
It's a work of heart.
It's an investment of body, mind and soul.
It's a way of life.
And tomorrow is another day.
with love,
Laurie
This is soooooooo true!
I think that for those of us who are perfectionists, the idea of 'teaching for June' is even more important. Our musical piece 'ends' there each year. That's when the ensemble of notes and rests count the most.
I know that professional musicians make mistakes too, but they just keep going, "the show must go on' attitude. Ironically, the public doesn't hear the mistakes! I figure the students won't hear ours either!
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....and after this long in the profession I now know that our musical piece goes on after the year has ended and the students move on. Many former students have shared with me that the language...and our voices...continue on in their hearts and minds.
with love,
Laurie
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Hi Laurie,
It's really good to read someone else who's been at it a long time. Last year I was incredibly excited every day, and TPRS went very well. This year, I have been pretty tired due to outside causes, and two of my four classes are going okay (in that they understand), but they aren't thrilling the way they were last year. I keep judging myself on how they're going, and wishing for the fun to start there. So I'm going to slow down even more and see what happens!
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