A Way of Thinking about Teaching and Becoming a Teacher

A Way of Thinking about Teaching and Becoming a Teacher

Just as the essay states, there is no there is no “golden key” or “silver bullet” (1) for learning to teach, however all successful teachers should possess the ability to think on their feet as well as always have a backup plan. Even those teachers with the greatest of all classroom management skills and expert lesson planning cannot predict student behavior and all of their personal educational needs. The concept of mētis referred to the article represents the practical skills and acquired intelligence in responding to a constantly changing natural and human environment is apropos. According to Scott, “knowing how and when to apply the rules of thumb in a concrete situation is the essence of mētis.” (2) Fluid adaptability is innate to some individuals and others must be acquired but it is an essential component of being a classroom teacher.

Last school year, I entered the classroom aiming to consistently implement creative and differentiated lesson plans and the reality is that they often didn’t work out. A short and intensive period of training and my own personal experience as a student was really all I was armed with. I love music so I was hoping to be able to use this love with ease in the classroom but my students with special needs prefer bookwork because it is comfortable for them. It is often difficult for them to take on more creative tasks because they reply outside of their comfort zone. In addition there are all the social pressures which arise. For example, I tried to use a few of my own musical selections to illustrate parts of the constitution for Social Studies, but the students got sidetracked because they didn’t know the song and also because they were 7th graders who felt the need to impress their classmates by ridiculing that which they didn’t understand. Day one of the lesson plan was made a mockery, so on day two; I completely revamped the project by having the students provide their own music. The lesson didn’t come out like I wanted it to, but I went with the flow and personally learned a valuable lesson.

Experience isn’t the only way in which a teacher will become effective; according to the essay, “mētis is a combination of knowledge derived from long-term observation and guesswork.” (1) Scott’s anecdote about his observation in Malaysia suggests that people learn from what they observe locally over a period of time. Mētis requires “being open to the complexity of the particulars in front of us and building imaginative bridges between what we may know generally and what a particular child or situation presents us with.” (1) Just as a scientist creates a hypothesis and then conducts experiments to either prove or disprove her/his point, new teachers (especially) experiment with techniques and create anecdotal evidence in order to adapt and implement future educational designs.

This year I’m teaching science and I haven’t taken nor have I observed a science class in over ten years. In order to “metamorphosize” myself into a 6th grade life science teacher, I dug back into my memories of science class, asked my students what they like about science, and I turned to science teachers in the building and asked them how I may adapt their lesson plans for my students. I’ve learned so far that what kids really like about science are the hands-on experiments. Now, I need to set up time to observe other teachers in action to learn more about managing this process. Teaching math for the second year in a row isn’t undaunting because I’ve observed student reactions to my lessons and other teachers. Best practices come from a collective effort.

I had a decade long career in public relations and media before I became a teacher (through alternative means) and I’ve never been challenged like this before. Teaching is the one profession where I am able to use all of my natural talents and life skills and yet those abilities are still not enough and I relish in that. There is always so much work to do; always more I can do; there are daily triumphs, and even more daily mistakes. It takes “true grit” to achieve excellence in this craft. In my former life I may have run my own business and had employees and billable hours, but I never utilized all of my talents and got bored with it.

Children are more complex than adults and they require so much energy; they never bore me. I used to function on 5 hours of sleep every night and now I need at least 7 and then sleep 10 hours one night of every weekend. Last year I was running on empty, but I learned so much in such little time, this year is more manageable thus far. Becoming a teacher by experience is at the heart of the alternative NYC Fellows program and I believe that I was selected largely because of my adaptive nature and the ability to roll with the punches. Via experience, one day I will accumulate the necessary skills to become an expert practitioner of the teaching craft.

(1) Traugh, C. (Date: Unknown). A Way of Thinking about Teaching and Becoming a Teacher

(2) Scott, J.C. (1998). Seeing Like a State: How certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed. New Haven: Yale University Press