Just a note on the last post: It was more an expression of my growing sadness that I am leaving behind the archive and LA than of me disliking any other volunteer. I quite like the girl I am training. She is friendly.
In other news: Something that Steve said to me a while ago has suddenly rung true, in a strange and completely unrelated way. Steve said that he was surprised by how many young animation students fight with things that John K. posts on his blog when the students are, as stated previously, so young and inexperienced in comparison to John. Steve was not implying everyone must agree with John, but whatever happened to respecting those with more experience and clout than you? While I agreed with Steve, let's face it, I couldn't really relate, not being and expert in anything let alone animation. But now I am forced to admit that yes, I have made myself an expert on the SAT. It is not something fun to admit to, but I worked pretty hard to become so familiar with something so dull. I then attempted to pass on my knowledge to my students, those ungrateful teenagers.
I have to say that after 6 weeks of teaching 16 year olds (a wealth of experience, I know) I have come to realize that there are just some people who do not want to learn. Certain children are surprisingly unreceptive. I realize that the SAT is not the most engaging of subjects, but how am I supposed to teach if the students are so unwilling to learn? Believe it or not I have become quite vested in my children's scores. While many have improved, some have not. Now it is time for them to grade me. I got a lot of "She's nice and helpful" but then I got the disappointing few saying that I was not clear etc. They also give me a letter grade on my ability to teach each section, my knowledge of the SAT, and a few other things. I can tell that the unreceptive children are the ones who gave me the less than stellar grades. This makes me angry because I am an SAT expert and how dare those tiny 16 year olds who have only just started to drive their own puny selves around say otherwise (I say as I stomp my foot in frustration)! Okay this is turning out to be very different from what Steve said, but I hold artistic license in this blog and that is the way I wanted to introduce my indignation about being judged by the snotty teenagers who refuse to listen in class or implement the really good strategies I showed them.
Really, who are they to judge me?
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I have no clue if I will continue with the blog, but now it must encompass adventures outside of LA seeing as I am now in the Bay Area, and not LA.
About Me
- Gemma
- I have finally graduated Dartmouth and now I am roaming aimlessly through California. This is not exactly true considering I am mostly living with my mum. But come to think of it, I would love to just roam California. Who wants to come with me?
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3 comments:
The proof of your ability to teach is in the ones who get it and succeed. You didn't teach them any differently than the ones who didn't want to learn. That pretty clearly shows that the problem lies with them, not you.
I give Gemma an A+ with an E for effort!
See ya
Steve
16 year olds are at a special place in their lives. I taught 7th graders when I was in 12th grade and they all listened to me like I was God himself come to Earth to teach them about amoebas and pre-algebra.
Although they still didn't listen to their year round teachers all the time. Maybe its just because I was so darn fashionably forward (the girls) and had boobs (the boys).
16 year olds stink ... they're too tall.
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