From the very first day of class I was struck by the sheer amount of knowledge and skill sets I have yet to acquire. It's impossible to sit there and NOT realize that one day I will be responsible for my students' brains, for that gray matter, for establishing foundations for the rest of their lives. I knew that as teachers we had the power to make a difference (a difference I have experienced firsthand), but the physical evidence is overwhelming.
From that very first chapter of reading I realized that in this class I would be learning as much about myself as I would about the teaching profession. Under other circumstances, learning about the parts of the brain and their various functions might not have made such a profound impact. Now I know that the hippocampus is responsible for my short-term memory loss after the car accident last semester and that I may very well be able to thank brain plasticity for my ability to return to the college and pick up where I left off.
Despite all the emotions, I am thankful to be back, and as daunting as the prospect of one day being responsible for the minds of my students may be, there is no doubt that I am in the right place and ultimately pursuing a profession that I love even now.
I definitely agree! I was very excited to come back to Wooster and get back into something that I truly enjoy. I can also agree that I've been learning about myself and how to be a better educator. I've learned about the brain previously but never in this way, and its been interesting. I hadn't thought about how important it was to truly understand the students in this way so that you can better prepare them. I'm actually very excited to take on the responsibility of others education. I remember especially in high school being truly inspired by some of my teachers and it's really cool to think that could be us one day!
ReplyDeleteOne thing that really got to me this week was the pre-test, it showed me what I needed to work on and gave a great idea of what we'll be learning soon.