S/o not being in control of classroom b/c of childhood?

amother

Olive

Thu, May 06 2021, 9:00 am

Interesting. I am a public school teacher and never taught in yeshiva. In one class, I'm considered "in control" yet another class may say "I have no control", but there are factors outside a teacher's control that can cause chaos in the class such as lack of consequences and lack of support from admin such that students see certain teachers can scream and be "tough" and can kick the hardest"" kids out. But, other teachers will be told you cant scream, cant kick kids out etc such that students know they can do what they want

Yes, if a teacher lacks confidence that is a small factor, but we can mask confidence just as we mask many things.

I think it's a personality thing. If a woman is sweet and feels a lot of empathy for others to the extent that ppl sometimes cross boundaries, then that same woman might have a problem "controlling the class" because he will feel bad" being tough. But, the women who can be sweet but at the same time have a tough side to them(even with adults) such that everyone knows for x y z, dont bother them, dont cross their boundaries...etc, these women will be able to be "tough" with students and "have control" assuming there is also support from admin and parents

It's very rare to find a successful teacher with "good control of the class" who is not tough and even cruel"" at times such as not letting my child or a student(middle school)go to the bathroom etc.

There are a rare group of ppl who can be sweet and know how to earn respect and discipline through the right words of praise and love/care/concern. But, its usually the tough teachers who are great at control.

I think teaching itself involves being able to break down a hard concept and explain topics in a way that students can understand and meet the needs of all students including the visual, kinesthetic learners etc...

amother

Mint

Thu, May 06 2021, 10:03 am

amother [ Indigo ] wrote:

I figured out that I'm not a good teacher- I'm a good tutor. Because of my personality, I don't do well juggling a class full of students at once. I am good at using my knowledge and planning for one student, or sometimes a small group. But I really can't do that when there's a kid on the other side of the room doing who knows what. Give me that kid on their own and I'm fine, even good, and can really help and get through to them. And yes, I have a hard time juggling the needs of and managing all my kids at the same time too.

Same here.

amother

Natural

Thu, May 06 2021, 10:51 am

I don’t think teaching has anything to do with a persons childhood. Teaching is a challenging profession that not everybody is cut out for. I know it’s a job I would never attempt. I’m a confident person but this job would be very intimidating for me personally. Now if u have school trauma and go into a panic from entering a school building, going to a PTA meeting , or seeing a teacher or a principal, this obviously would be a very difficult job for you to choose. It requires specific skills and personality traits like being able to speak for long periods of time, being interesting and captivating, good story telling skills, patience, confidence, caring , understanding , etc. If you have those skills, go for it.

amother

Cerulean

Thu, May 06 2021, 11:18 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Curious about previous thread where op could not control class and also not a success in work world. I too had this issue and was wondering if my childhood dysfunction caused my problems in controlling the class which led to me leaving teaching. Wondering if other people are like me who left teaching b/c of classroom discipline that also could be related to their not having a normal childhood.

And in general how your childhood affected your work life and the difficulties you face in the work world - answering to a boss, dealing with tough clients, asking for raises, needing appreciation etc.

I was there but I could largely fix it. When I was in school, teachers could often do nothing, everyone was very disrespectful and did crazy things. Inside of me I could not believe one can actually deal with misbehavior.

I have observed enough of good rolw models though and learned to control the classroom.

amother

Thu, May 06 2021, 3:02 pm

amother [ Olive ] wrote:

Definitely this. I was always wanting to be nice and caring because of stories of kids traumatized from teachers not allowing bathroom, or feeling bad not to allow a small drink or etc. etc. I treated my students as adults as if I would be their peers in terms of granting their requests- that probably doomed me.

amother

Rose

Thu, May 06 2021, 3:47 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I think it also depends on what the expectations are in that particular school. If kids are used to a certain set of rules and you don't enforce them it looks like you're weak.

My best teaching experiences were in OOT schools where the kids were just thrilled to have young, enthusiastic teachers who did fun things with them. Whatever I did seemed new and exciting to them, whereas in a NY school it would all seem old and boring and unoriginal.