More than Teachers

Hi, so yesterday was my last day at work. I expressed how it was a great learning experience. However, I had to move on to pursue my career as a teacher. I posted a few days on my Instagram that I would like to work with adults instead. I also don’t mind the age group of high school, and they’re around fifteen and eighteen years old.

Most teachers have a preferred age group they’d like to work with. Since the beginning, I wanted to work as an English teacher with the older group. I’ve talked to so many professors, and they like either the younger than eleven students or, the older ones who are around fifteen and eighteen. There’s nothing wrong with the middle group between twelve and fourteen. In my experience though, they’re a bit more defiant and willing to challenge authority, and at the same time, they want the attention and love from their professors.

The thing is, with the middle group, you must continuously discipline them—of course, they’re not all like that, but most act a bit too wild. I worked in a public Christian school, so they weren’t these horrible monsters. They were just typical children wanting to get away with a bit too much. I noticed the stark difference when I let them be kids, and then finally having to set my foot down. Apparently, they didn’t like it. I only sent one to the office, but he said something very inappropriate. The others, well, nobody really got in trouble.

There was one kid who I felt pretty concerned about, which is the reason I offered to help in any way I could, mainly because I am thinking about going into counseling. But that idea is still in the air. With this particular student, something tells me that he’s a good kid, and he’s trying his best. I hope he can get through his storm because he has reasons to feel the way he does. I was not informed much about him, but I hope everything works out in his favor.

I, personally, do not like scolding or disciplining students. Especially, when they look at you with those eyes of, “How could you?” It’s kind of funny at the same. Some professors don’t mind it at all. They have the ability to interact with the kids, and yet discipline them. It takes time and experience, which is the reason I decided to move on to where I could acquire that class management and communication skills with the students as a teacher. I’m sure most teachers make a lot of mistakes during their beginnings. And most are eager to find creative ways on how to improve their teaching skills and class management.

I feel more comfortable interacting with the students when they’re telling me about their problems, and they trust me with it. Unless it was something serious, we kept most conversations between us because I know they just needed to talk—that and I’m bound by regulations. If something were to go wrong and I didn’t communicate with the head of the school about complicated issues, then that wouldn’t be a positive note on me. And this part was tricky too because the students feel betrayed. But they’re minors, and I’m the adult.

Overall, I say, please be grateful to the teachers of your children. People who work with children and teenagers work very hard, and they kind of must take that extra role as parents even though many of them have their own kids. Teachers should be just teaching, right? Well, not necessarily. When it comes to young people, from kindergarten to high school, teachers have a lot of responsibilities. And it comes with a lot of human imperfections, trial and error, and strong emotional and communication skills.