Last night orientation for freshmen and other new students was held at my school. This is always a positive, warm and fuzzy evening where everyone meets and greets full of anticipation for new experiences. The new students are excited, and more than a little nervous, about coming to a new school, in this, the "big high school."
I was surprised at the number of siblings of current and former students I will be teaching this year. For a couple of families, I will be teaching three of their children, and in three of those classes I will have siblings in the same room! I can only imagine the conversations around the dinner table on some nights: "Mr. Keith, blah blah blah, and then he blah blah blahed! We all blah blah blahed and rolled our eyes!"
In my 26 year career, I have, of course, taught numerous siblings and, indeed, whole families. This past year marked the end of a family of five! A mom of a graduated senior from last year remarked last night, "And now you've got me for eight more years!" Her daughter was entering into Latin II and her youngest was waiting in the back of the room. Bring 'em on!
For those families where I teach multiple children, it becomes a source of confirmation that I must be doing something right if they continue to loan me their children for the school year and their entire high school careers.
1 comment:
It sounds quite rewards that you have had, over the course of the past 26 years of teaching, the privilege of teaching a number of students, including their siblings. Indeed, one of the challenges we as educators face is how best to connect with our students, both professionally and personally. There are, according to the Reading Apprenticeship framework, 4 overlapping and interconnecting dimensions of classroom life: the personal dimension, the knowledge-building dimension, the cognitive dimension, and the social dimension. I wonder how, as a Latin, teacher you are able to connect with your students? How, in other words, do you bring a so-called dead language back to life? And what sorts of technological devices, if any, do you use to connect with a generation of students who are “Growing up Digital: Wired for Distraction?”
Post a Comment