kids

you don't know what they don't know.

this has been a constant theme that is slowly sinking in for me.  i, quite often, have the thought "shouldn't someone have taught you that?"  then, i realize.  that "teacher" could be, should be, me.  everything i know i learned from someone else — why assume anyone else is different?  over time, you start to take what you know for granted.  as you continue learning, more and more knowledge forms the basis of your worldview.  because i KNOW this and this and this, then i can conclude THIS, and venture to theorize THAT.  progress is building blocks.  you have to have a solid base to build higher.

the knowledge problem.  how do you get around it?

i want to teach my students what they need to know, but i am never sure what that entails.  at times, they impress me so much that i'm tempted to think of them as adults.  i've had discussions where my 12-14 year-old students have made connections and drawn conclusions that i overlooked entirely.  that's one side of my students (and that, by the way, is the benefit of Socratic discussion).  the other side? the other side is asking me how to spell "obvious" (that really happened today), or never taking notes in class, or failing to follow instructions i've repeated 10 times, and so on.

another great in-class example.  in Medieval History, we were talking about Abelard and his forbidden romance with Heloise, and the word "castrate" came up.  i had to briefly summarize the implications, and the dialogue ended something like this:
me:  "i'm a little surprised that you haven't encountered that before.."
8th grade girl: "well, we didn't know that, but we know LOTS of other stuff" (implying that they were knowledgeable on the subject on which we were speaking. sex.).
me:  "...please never say that again."

in those situations, its hard not to treat them like kids.  so, it's this constant switching back and forth, and re-evaluating.

as a result of this, i'm starting to figure out some things about myself.  i think i'm better suited to teach high school students, for one thing.  i do enjoy the 7th and 8th grade classes, especially as a first-year teacher who needs students that will believe everything i say, and i certainly have no complaints.  finding success is about matching your ability and passion to the correct setting, and, for me, the perfect setting would be high school economics.  that's what i want to be doing next year.