Things I'm Having to Clarify for Myself as I'm Mentoring

1. What's my educational philosophy? All through college they have you write these seemingly meaningless papers entitled Educational Philosophy. For me, I had a clue of what mine was, but really didn't start developing my true beliefs until I started working with kids in the field. Now that I'm working with someone brand-spanking-new, I'm finding myself having to answer that question again and again in a million different ways.

2. How do I handle classroom management? This question has always been hard for me to answer. I have policies in place and interventions that I come back to again and again, but classroom management just kind of happens. I lay down the law, most students listen and I'm always ready for the scapegoat of the year who wants to but heads with the fence just to see if it will really hold. Turns out I'm kind of stubborn. I call my style quiet strict. I generally don't yell. (Although, sometimes I do have horrible nightmares about yelling and yelling and kids not listening.) I generally don't have to have a ton of detentions. Things just happen.

3. Why did I go into teaching and why am I still here? I ran into someone over the holiday break who was just finishing up an internship before she moved on to student teaching and she said that she probably won't ever student teach unless she can do it at a private school. Her biggest concern was student discipline, content, and motivation. I most definitely understand on motivation why this is so troubling. At times I feel like I care more than some of my kids. I still love teaching, but it becomes a struggle when you give your all and the students don't seem to care.