The other day I was leaving to go towards my 10th grade classroom when I noticed two of my students talking to Kristin. She later shared with me that these two students, both females, were just sharing that they missed Mrs. Leclaire, a female, in front of the class.
Then it hit me, students choose their teachers, especially at a 10th, 11th, and 12th grade level based on a variety of factors – one of them being sex of the teacher. Both of my cooperating teachers are female, which is really interesting because I am obviously male. It has made me reflect on the fact that because I am a male how the classroom has changed.
I really began to consider how do I connect with my male and my female students? It seems like I have a better time connecting with my male students in Kristin’s classes and usually the females in Anne’s classes. Explain that one!
It has been really interesting hearing about the conversation that those two female students told Kristin. How I deal with both female and male students in the future will be one of the things that I, a male teacher, will need to pay closer attention to in the future.
3 comments:
Interesting. I have an easier time connecting with the male students than the female students. I'm an old student teacher - older than most of their parents, I'm sure - so it's not anything other a teaching relationship.
One of the hardest things about student teaching is that the students have built a comfortable and often great relationship with the teachers that we are replacing. It's like we moved their cheese and they are trying to find it again mid-year.
My first placement was four weeks which is barely enough time to get through the "testing period" in which they try their relationship with you. My current placement is eight weeks so it will be interesting to watch the trajectory.
It's so funny that you addressed this because Anne and I were just talking about it. Here's my opinion: Every teacher has his or her own target audience. I think Anne's personality clicks well with boys--particularly those who need extra structure. I think they respond really well to her no-nonsense discipline. Of course, there are many, many other types of students who absolutely adore Anne, but I think that these are her specialty.
My target audience tends to be the girls, and I know this because my classes always fill up with girls. In my 6th hour class for example, 29 of my 32 students are girls. In particular, it's the hard-working girls who tend to respond to me best.
I think this is why you are bonding with Anne's girls and my boys--the kids who fall under our "target audiences" are having a harder time bonding with a new teacher.
This is why I sometimes think that student teaching is harder than your first year of teacher--you're trying to find your own style while trying to fit the style of the teacher who's been teaching for half the year so that the kids still feel comfortable in the classroom environment to which they are accustomed.
Just keep thinking about how you can connect to those kids who are still wary of you. They'll come around.
Randon
Your grandfather, Roger, told me about some of your activities at Wartburg, and as Prof Emeritus and former grad, I was very interested.
Enjoyed reading some of your stories and insights. Remember that student teaching usually starts on the up-side, drops, and returns to the up-side for the final week.
Tell Bonita and Nelson hello from Les Huth.
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