Entrance Slip #6 - Tact of teaching

"Current approaches to teaching and schooling tends to be based on models and agendas that do not necessarily reflect the experiential priorities of classroom life". To me this quote highlights a major distinction within our school system: the difference/distinction between education and schooling. Schooling gives the students an opportunity to learn from a prescribed curriculum, often being told to be in classes that may not have a major impact on their life later on. On one hand, schooling offers students the chance to learn basic skills with numeracy and literature, but often falls short of inspiring deeper exploration and intrinsic motivation to learn more. Education on the other hand is an idea that the person is always a student, learning from every experience in life, positive or negative. This quote also connects to something later where it's mentioned "success in teaching is measured in little victories", these little victories can come in the form of seeing student progress (or personal) progress within the classroom for example. The prescribed curriculum and agendas that need to be met don't always align with our teaching goals too, I've talked to numerous teacher candidates who agree we are not necessarily only teaching math, we are teaching students and young adults to go beyond the classroom.

"The normal teacher-student relation does not allow social distancing". Although a short quote, I found this one very ironic and funny given our current climate and circumstances, but I also found it interesting for those same reasons. The article mentions how we forming relationships with our students is important to have an understanding of their deeper thoughts, and feelings, and that a teacher may show tact by "in a particular situation...be able to see what goes on with the children, understand the child's experience, sense the pedagogical significance of the situation, know how and what to do, actually do something right". Given how this year has changed everything with COVID, I found that we as teachers need to adapt and overcome such boundaries to still form those relationships, while also being wary of the students' health and personal space. Having personal conversations becomes a little bit more difficult, but it also allows for more creative ways to interact and create those relationships. I truly believe that the best teachers are the ones who show a genuine interest in their students, and I hope to be a teacher that students feel comfortable around. At the same time, I want to come off as genuine and not forced, as I feel most people will be able to see through that! Even though these are unique times, we need to come up with unique and creative solutions to help maintain that student-teacher relationship. Difficult times do not necessarily mean we give up, we have to push and continue to grow

"Good teachers often have difficulty identifying why things work so well for them (or why they do not work well for that matter)". I found this quote interesting because to me it connects to confidence, and understanding that theory may only get someone so far as a teacher. For example, when we did our micro-teaching lesson in 342, a category was 'confidence in material' for marking; when a teacher is confident and feels they know the material, it's easier for them to convey messages back to student without overthinking it themselves. Confidence is similar to tact in this way then: we may learn about confidence and read about it, but implementing it and having it is completely different. It is a practical skill that needs to be worked on, and no amount of theory can prepare an incoming teacher candidate for what's ahead 

I think tact comes from experience over time, but also from the willingness and motivation to become a tactful teacher. If I spent 100 years in the classroom teaching, but didn't care to understand my students, or go beyond the material of the curriculum, I don't think I would ever become a tactful teacher. The experience needs to accompanied by a motivation to always learn, grow, and treat each year as a different experience. I believe having tact and practical wisdom will put parents a little more at ease, as they may trust you more as a teacher. Showing compassion, empathy and understanding to students will have them trusting you as well, and may make the classroom a more welcoming environment.