Teaching in a formal setting came late in life. I was thirty-nine when I stepped into an English Composition 1 classroom in the fall 2009 at Grand Rapids Community College’s lakeshore campus. It was a classroom on the third floor of the Midtown Campus.
Stepping into the classroom on that first day I was a bundle of nerves. No amount of mental preparation prepared me for that day. I was standing in front of twenty-four students. All attention was on me. But somehow I got through that day and the week and finally the semester.
That first semester was a tremendous learning experience for me. Yes, you read this right. Shouldn’t I say it was a tremendous learning experience for the students? Perhaps, but only they can speak to that.
As an instructor who cares about teaching, I should also care about learning. What better place to learn than from standing in front of a classroom full of eager minds and interacting with them.
So how have I learned from my students over the past five years? What comes to mind right away is rapport building. Each day I converse with my students. I try to say a little something to each student. It might be a “good morning” or point out something he or she wrote in a journal or essay. Sometimes these conversations lead to a one-on-one chat after the class.
Why get to know the students like this? Well, it’s called building rapport. It lets them know I care about them and what goes on in their lives. After all, they are people as well as students. And I treat them as such.
This rapport I build in the classroom helps me build rapport with others in my life, whether it be strangers or those I will meet again and again. I can build a certain comfort level with people much easier now thanks to my students.
I also am more comfortable and at ease with myself after standing in front of a classroom full of students. For ninety-minute periods, I am “on stage” and the spotlight is on me. There is no room for nerves anymore. Sure, there is the first-day jitters, but that passes and then it’s time to put on my figurative teacher’s hat and get to work.
With this ease of being in front of students, comes a greater acceptance of my vision disability. My students know from day one about my eye sight issues. I am upfront with them. Sometimes there are questions, which I happily answer. At other times I’ve learned to incorporate my vision loss story into lessons in the classroom. It is an intimate part of my life that I wear on my sleeve. Many times it has helped students with their own disabilities in my classroom, as well as others deal with their own issues, as they share them with me in their writings.
Finally, I enjoy writing, whether it’s fiction, a blog, or interesting tidbits on facebook. Over the past five years my writing has strengthened and my style more refined. Why? My students. I read their work three-to-four times a week, look over journals and essays. I learn from their writing. It’s not a conscious thing but more of learning by osmosis. And learning comes from all types of writing, excellent or poor. By becoming a better writer, I have become a better teacher.
So, yeah, learning goes both ways. Teacher to student and from student to teacher. From that first batch of students, the Tiffanys, the Marks and the Jetons to the current batch, thank you for teaching me a thing or two about becoming a better person and teacher.
- Roel -
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