Some things I have learned about teaching along the way, and some reasons why this is the best job ever!
Posted on January 29th, 2022
1) Teachers / professors do not have to wear certain clothing. It’s about how you carry yourself, how you behave and what you say.
When I first began teaching undergraduates, I thought that I would have to change my whole wardrobe to be taken seriously. I like to wear colorful clothing a lot, or various patterns. I have since come to learn that this is not the case. I often wear patterned shirts with jeans or sweatpants and my students respect me. I still look clean and professional but also comfortable. Not in a suit. That’s not my style. I try my best to interact with my students in a confident manner and this is important. I have learned now that being a good teacher is not about what you wear but how you are with your students. My students and I have mutual respect for one another which I appreciate.
2) You can still be yourself while also being professional.
I am naturally a silly, happy and excited person. It is hard for me not to be myself. I thought when I started teaching that being “professional” meant not showing that side of me much. I obviously have a professional persona but she is still very much authentically me. I get excited with my students, make jokes and share bits about my life with them. I have since learned that these qualities help me to be a better teacher because I remind myself that we are all just people. I am a person and my humanity is going to show when I am teaching, as will my students’ humanity.
3) You learn every. single. day.
As a teacher, you are always learning. You are learning from your own teaching (what you struggle with for example) and the class itself. You learn what works and does not work for certain ages / people and groups. You learn how to think quickly and change plans if needed. You learn how to trust yourself and make decisions. You learn a lot from your students. Even though I may have more knowledge in French than they do, they all come with different stories and experiences that they bring to class. Being a teacher challenges me to have a more open mind and see things from different perspectives.
One recent example of this is that last term, I had a student who hardly spoke in class. After a couple of weeks, I found myself being frustrated with this internally. One day, after I called on her and she seemed especially nervous, I decided to ask her privately why she did not speak in class. It turns out that she was homeschooled and so does not have much experience speaking in groups, and it also makes her really nervous to do. After learning that, I worked with her to come up with ways that she could still participate and not be so nervous. This experience reminded me that you should never assume you know why someone is doing something, and you should try to find out what’s going on so that you can figure out how to proceed. You never know until you ask.
4) It is okay to admit when you have made a mistake or do not know the answer to a question.
In my class, I try to show my students that I make errors in French too sometimes, to show them that mistakes are okay and part of learning. I make jokes about it sometimes, to remind them that, oops, sometimes even the teacher makes mistakes. When a student asks me a question, if I don’t know the answer, this is what our coordinator told us to say : “That’s a good question. I don’t know the answer, but I will find out and get back to you” or “Let’s explore this together.” I think it’s also good for them to see that just because I am the teacher does not mean I know everything about French, or that I sometimes forget things.
Some things I love about teaching :
1) Being in the classroom (virtual or in-person) with my students brings me joy and helps me feel better when I am not feeling my best.
There have been several days where I am not feeling great either physically, emotionally or both. Maybe I’m having anxiety on the way to work or maybe I had a long day and I wonder how I will make it through a late-afternoon French lesson online. But then I get involved with what I am teaching and with helping my students and it is almost like medicine. It takes my mind off of my current state and allows me to focus on my students. I am very grateful for my job and my students. They keep me motivated and excited even on the hard days.
2) I get do something that I love and share my passion for French with others.
I feel super lucky that I have a job that I enjoy. As a teacher, I recognize that teaching is not about imparting knowledge to people from me (the supposed authority) to them (the people “under” me). It is about sharing the French language with them and guiding them through their learning. I get to show them cool music, fun words and introduce them to aspects of French and Francophone (other French-speaking countries) culture. I basically get paid to be a French nerd! :) I hope to pass on the inspiration that all of my French teachers (and other teachers) have given me over the years. I try to show my students of all ages how learning a language can be fun and exciting. I know that not all of my students will go on to study French as I did, but no matter how long they are in my class, I want them to have a positive learning experience.
3) I get to feel fancy.
I have a nametag that I wear for my university job. It says “Faculty/Staff” on it and it makes me feel professional. I love wearing my nametag. I tell my university students that they can call me either Nirvana or Madame. I enjoy getting emails addressed to “Professor F. (my last name, omitted for privacy). I also love getting emails that begin with “Bonjour Madame.” Both of those feel very fancy and teachery and it makes me feel proud of where I am and how far I’ve come.
4) Being a teacher still has a lot of responsibility, but it is not the same as being a student.
Since I have started as an adjunct this fall, I have had this experience quite a few times where I look around at all the students on campus and feel a great sense of relief that I am no longer a student. I still have lots of responsibilities, and many that a student would not have. Of course, I want my students and the others on campus to enjoy their time as a student, and I hope that they do. But I also just think sometimes, “Wow. I’m sooo glad I don’t have homework to do.” If I ever go further in my studies and get a PhD, I’ll be a student again. I know I’ll enjoy that if I do it. I love school. But until then, I will relish my time as just a teacher.
5) My students (or children’s parents) let me know that they appreciate my teaching, which makes me feel really good.
I have received emails from parents of my school-age students thanking me for my lessons with their children, telling me how much their kid enjoys my lessons and /or how they appreciate that I’m helping their child. It’s cool to have the opportunity to teach children and teens as well, and to play a small part in someone’s development and educational journey. When I taught as a grad student, I received positive feedback from my students.
So far this year, in a reflective assignment that my students have to do every two weeks, I have had several students tell me that they are enjoying the class and are excited to keep learning French. I have had others thank me for teaching them. Last term, someone let me know that they appreciated that I addressed the subject of newly created gender neutral pronouns in French. This term, a student told me she has anxiety about speaking in class. I asked if there was anything I could do to help make her feel more comfortable. She said that empathy, which she has already seen from me, helps a lot. Hearing these things makes me feel happy and lets me know that I am doing my job well. Sometimes I struggle with the idea that I am not “as good of a teacher” as someone else, or that I’m not doing my job well enough. I’ll dig into that in another post.
Thank you for reading, and I’ll be back soon!