Carefully Being Myself With Students

More and more, even though it's been told to me before, I'm finding that the unexpected moments are the best moments as a teacher. And as lost as I feel sometimes, there are always these jack-in-the-box life experiences that backhand slap me back to reality and say, "Fool! Quit yo jibbah-jabbah!"

After a day in Dublin with my grandma, I had my first encounter with students outside of the classroom. I had just gotten of the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) and was waiting for the bus to my house in Kilcoole, when a large group of students crossed the street and recognized me. "Mr. Cameron!", one student said and smiled. Some of the kids were from different schools, and most of them were exchange students. "Who's that?" another asked. "One of my teachers." she replied. I can only guess what they were thinking standing there talking to me. Maybe something to the effect of, "I can't believe our teacher is standing here waiting for a bus like us." but I bet if they knew the speed in which my mind was machine gunning they would have been completely overwhelmed.

You see, as a young budding teacher I have thought back on the horror stories I have heard about teachers who do things that are completely innocent but are misinterpreted or deemed inappropriate etc. and I found myself being overly critical of this interaction. Which in turn was a bit frustrating, because this interaction should have simply been a chance encounter with a group of students and an opportunity to get to know them.

But the reality of being a teacher is that you are held to a different standard. And in that moment, surrounded by twelve or so students, I felt a responsibility to be very conscious of who I was. We talked about travel (as many of them were exchange students), their time so far in Ireland, and I answered many curious questions about the US - questions like, "Is it warm in America?" And overall it was a great experience that I actually feel will impact how receptive students are to my teaching in the classroom. If anything I learned how important it is to interact with students in some way outside of the classroom (extracurricular sports, drama, clubs, etc.) if you want to be a great teacher.

And you can always be yourself, just carefully.