Sunday, August 02, 2009
Teacher becomes student
Today's lesson: you're never too old to become a student. I became a student of Mai Huong today. She's a young woman with a learning disability that I normally teach English and math.
When I came to class today she was making a friendship bracelet. It was a perfect opportunity for role reversal. Sewing is something I just am not very good at--I don't have the patience. And sure enough, soon I had almost tied myself in knots trying to imitate what the kids were doing.
Huong Mai took control. She patiently showed me how to loop the multicolored string and how to make an overhand and underhand knot. By selecting different colors you can make all kinds of patterns (we were working on a diamond pattern). She said "teacher" so happy that she could teach me something. I said "teacher ret tot!" We went over the colors, repeating "red, yellow, white, orange, green."
I try to do this as often as I can with the students, give them an opportunity to teach me something. It is so important that they realize that they too can be teachers, that they have something wonderful to contribute. This is one of the main reasons I became a teacher, when I volunteered with these fantastic young people four years ago, I soon realized that I was learning more from them than I could teach!
This is the secret joy of teaching--the teacher learns from the students. Where else could I learn how to sew a rainbow and weave colors between my small fingers? By the end of the lesson, I had helped make a friendship bracelet!
