Remembering what it's like to be a student

So I, along with three others in the program, went to a 3-day "Tech Prep" workshop. Oh, it was delightful...all of us thought it would be a waste of time. For the 3 of us math teachers, we really enjoyed ourselves... we all had tech prep wrong. We've seen it on our lesson plans, and I usually end up putting "graphing calculators" or "overhead" (which somehow can be included as 'tech prep' at our school). Turns out it really means connecting our lessons to real-life, integrating lesson plans, incorporating skills used in other classes...things I do and need to do more often. Of course, it's always easier on paper than in real-life. It's also easier when you have a classroom that you have control over, but that's another blog...

At one point during the workshop, when we were stuck with the boring-male-instructor, M. and I got stuck working on a math problem...we were so caught up in it that we weren't paying attention (god-forbid). In the midst of our quiet chatter, the instructor came over and asked us a question to try to bring us back to the class. He was clearly annoyed. We had a break soon after that, and when we came back all of us were instructed to change seats so that we were sitting next to someone in a different discipline...just (being teachers now we know) to get M. and I away from each other. After that, the boring-male-instructor got more than just boring...his voice was irritating, the way his mouth moved was almost disgusting, and just about everything he did became annoying.

I realized from this experience what it was like to be a student again...class is way more fun when you get to be by your friend. I was annoyed when we had to move away from each other. I got caught up doing something much more interesting than what we were so-called "learning" in class. After I knew I annoyed the teacher, I disliked him more. I forgot what that all felt like. I can see more why my kids feel and act the way they do.