Today my elder son had to teach a lesson at school. It's part of their course on PE/sports science. His specialisation for the course is javelin and he was expected to teach his class how to throw a javelin within a single lesson. A tall order at the best of times.
When he got home from school today, I asked him how it had gone. "Not so good," he told me Apparently, the class hadn't paid attention or co-operated at all. His confidence, however, was unbowed.
"I still taught well, " he assured me, "Regardless of whether they learned anything or not."
Hmm. What it is to be seventeen!
I must remember that one if ever I run a workshop that doesn't go over well.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Good teacher, bad learners?
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2 comments:
LOL. Your son reminds me so much of mine! He said basically the same thing after he had to present a lesson in his history class. "And I don't get it because mine was better than Sam's, but they liked his better!"
On the other hand, my daughter accompanied me to my class that I teach at the University. I was a bit scared to ask her how she liked it, as I feel my style is not too dynamic and my daughter can be brutally honest. As usual, because it is an "early morning" class (at 9:15!), I had trouble getting much participation from my students.
After, when I asked my daughter how she liked the class, she said, "I thought it was really good mom. Better than my classes. I didn't think I would like it, but it was pretty interesting. But what was wrong with your students? You were asking them really simple questions and they didn't get it." I had to explain to her that they weren't really paying attention and were half asleep. Her response, "That's not right."
It's weird, though, there might a grain truth in it. For example, if you're interested in a subject, you can often pay attention even when the teacher is not very exciting - you engage with the content, and get excited about new information. If, however, you're not interested, it will take an exceptional teacher to spark your interest and engage you, I reckon.
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