How I Have Changed

In Reflect With Me from Learning is Growing, Kathy Perret  talked about a prompt used for reflecting and I thought it would be a great way for me to reflect on how I have changed in my thinking. The prompt was,

“I used to think ___, now I think___.”

I used to think that I needed to be a superwoman in order to be a good teacher, now I think I just need to do the best I can and help my students learn. If I don’t know the answers, I need to help them find the answers, which is actually a good way to model learning.

I used to think that I needed to teach the recommended way, now I think I need to teach according to the student’s learning style. Just because I learn best visually does not mean that everyone else does too.

I used to think that I knew more than my students, now I think that sometimes my students can think of a better way of doing something than I can. Giving students a chance to shine is the best way to give them confidence and build trust.

I used to think I knew how to improve a student’s behavior because I knew behavior management techniques, now I think that it is important to get the student’s input as to why the behavior is occurring and what can be done to improve the behavior.

I used to think that I could show that I am a good teacher by spending every moment I could thinking/doing things for my classroom, now I think that I can show that I am a good teacher but using my time effectively and taking time for myself in order to reenergize and motivate myself.

I used to think that if I worked through lunch time I could get caught up with all of my work, now I think that you never really get caught up with work and eating lunch is important to stay healthy physically and emotionally.

I used to think old fashioned ideas needed to be thrown out to let the new ideas in, now I think that many of the old traditional ideas have a lot of merit and are still important in the classroom. These can be revamped and modernized but the basics are still the same.

I used to think that I didn’t have time to connect with other teachers either locally or globally, now I think it is so important to make these connections in order to grow professionally.

I used to think that a lot of the children’s problems were caused by the parents, now I think that many times we don’t what really causes a child’s problem and we don’t always need to know the cause. We just need to move forward and help the child at the point that we are at.

I used to think that all children needed to be in school in order to get the best education, now I think that school is not always the right place for some children.

I used to think of everything in black and white, now I think more in gray. There are always two sides to every story and sometimes the answer isn’t always clear cut. This allows for more possibilities rather than limiting the answer to one specific thing.

Now, how have you changed? Please share.

Image: 'He Has the Momentum'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/41864721@N00/2236463274
Found on flickrcc.net