Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Teaching and Learning Tidbit

So far, I haven't made any kids cry in class yet. One of my kids did start putting a plastic bag over his head today in class, but I don't think it was a comment on my teaching.

I did, however, make myself cry in Chinese class today. (To clarify: I was crying while I was a student in a Chinese class at the University. To anyone who knows the phonetic alphabet, I was absolutely failing at distinguishing the zi, tzi, si. And my teacher wouldn't let me sit down and give up despite my protests of "but, I'm really stressed out.") I have so much more empathy for these kids now that I'm in their shoes (as a language-learner myself).

2 comments:

krisis said...

Crying because you realize how hard it is for them to learn? Not catching the drift of your empathy.

Nomad0921 said...

#1 Crying is good, at least some of the time. It can be cathartic, and certainly generally makes me feel better afterwards.
#2 Empathy is almost ALWAYS good.
#3 Were you crying because the kid was putting the bag over his head, or because he got it off? ;>)