I’m currently sitting here icing a welt on my chin
and wondering, “What the heck did I get myself into?”
About a month ago, when a friend asked me if I
wanted to play on his coed softball team, I thought, “Sure, that sounds
fun!” I enjoy recreational sports
and I’m usually okay at them, so even though I haven’t played softball since
high school P.E., I thought with a little practice it would be fun.
I was a bit nervous since I hadn’t caught a
softball for over ten years, so I got my friends together to do a little
practice hitting and catching. And
then…the fear hit. I was
TERRIBLE. I found myself scared of
the ball and completely unable to catch a single thing coming towards me. As someone who likes to think of myself
as athletic, it was embarrassing.
But those of you who know me know I don’t like to
half-ass things. When I’m in it,
I’m in it. So for the past month I
have been catching almost daily…and I’ve improved…sort of. I know the analogies for sports and
academics have been beaten to death, but as I’ve practiced hard, failed
repeatedly, and progressed tiny bit by tiny bit, I began to make a connection
between my experience and the experiences my kids go through every day when
they walk into my classroom.
As a teacher, I look at my kids and think, “If
they only tried a little harder, they’d get it! It’s not THAT hard!”
But I have to admit, when I got clocked in the face for the third or
fourth time today with a grounder that I should have caught, but didn’t, part
of me was ready to throw down my mitt, cry, and quit.
If there’s one thing that trying something new and
difficult has given me, it’s empathy.
I understand a little bit why the kids who don’t get it the second or
third time it’s explained to them, don’t necessarily want to try a fourth or
fifth time, and while I have no easy solutions for how to motivate the kids who
don’t have a solid math foundation or a natural grasp of the material, I think
that empathy will make me a more understanding, more patient, and hopefully, a more
encouraging teacher.
This realization comes at a perfect time for me,
as I am working to revamp a Geometry curriculum that I’ve taught for 4
years. To be honest, last year I
could see myself being short with students when they asked questions I thought
ought to be obvious. Now that I’ve
been humbled a bit, maybe I’ll be able to see their questions through their
eyes rather than my “expert” view.
I think it would be worthwhile for
every teacher to periodically try something new, especially something that doesn’t
come naturally to them. It has
been a good experience for me, and I hope it’ll translate into my teaching.
As for softball, I’m still working on it...I want
to be able to tell my kids this year that I kept trying...Hey, three weeks ago
I wouldn’t have gotten hit in the face because I wouldn’t have been anywhere
near the ball, right? =P I think
the thing I need to work on most is just having fun and doing my best…my first
game is this week…wish me luck!
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