My son had very different teachers in 3rd and 4th grade. In terms of quality, I feel they are equally good teachers. I am quite torn about how their different personalities affect my child.
One teacher has a very warm personality. She is goofy, funny, and not afraid to admit a mistake or make fun of herself. She cares deeply about her kids and genuinely likes people; her interest shows in her every action. She welcomes her students in her classroom before school, during lunch, and all recesses. Her students love her and strives to please her in every way, including paying attention in class. Her curriculum and instructional planning are haphazard. While she loves to try out new ideas, there seemed little intention behind the planning. If it sounds good and fun, she would check it out. Her nod to standards is following the school mandated curriculum.
The other teacher has a more formal personality. She dresses professionally, presents a friendly demeanor, and is very careful to present a put together image for her students. She is a professional teacher with decades of experience and seemed to keep up with the latest research on instruction. Everything she does is very intentional with learning behind every action, project, and assignment. She is scruplous about using small groups or one on one activities to address different abilities and different activities to address different learning styles. Her students seemed OK with that. She also pays careful attention to standards and made sure her curriculum addresses everything the children need to know.
Although arguably, the second teacher is doing everything best practices research is saying she should do, my son much prefered the first teacher. I begin to wonder how much of a difference personality makes? My son is stressed by the expectations of the second teacher and experiencing some amount of personality shock. He is definitely not as motivated with the more formal teaching style. How much more or less is he learning with different teachers? Will it come out even? Will the intentional instruction overcome the lack of motivation?
The Ones Who Got Away
10 years ago
2 comments:
I think that having a variety of teachers and teaching styles will better prepare your son, and other students for life. Not everyone is the same. When you enter the work world you need to be able to deal with many different people. this helps prepare them for that. It also helps them to discover their own personality, likes and dislikes. It helps them to discover how they learn best.
I find myself feeling the same way. My main placement teacher is SO much fun and the kids absolutely love her. My dyad placement is the complete opposite. I find that I, myself, as a grown-up much prefer the fun style as well! But then my main placement teacher told me that one boy did have issues with her because his parents are very "button down" and he is a very serious student and he was very uncomfortable with some of her crazyness. So, I agree with Sunshine that it helps kids prepare to be able to deal with different types of people. But still...who wouldn't rather have fun, right? :)
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