Learning From My Students

"When one teaches, two learn."

-Robert Heinlein

I absolutely love this quote, and I have found it to be very true. As a teacher in the classroom, I've learned from my students how to continue to be a better teacher. I've learned that not all classes are the same. Every year has a new class of students with different learning styles and different interests.

One year, I had a class full of students who were in love with the facts of history, science, and math. They loved soaking up all the information they possibly could from nonfiction texts. This class loved learning about historical dates and times, scientific facts and data thrilled them, and numbers were exciting to them. This class loved learning solid, concrete information. They wanted to read books from National Geographic Kids and books from the Who Was...? series.

The following year, I had a class that enjoyed fantasy and things that are more abstract. They brought a "thinking outside the box" kind of way to learning. They would add ideas to the classroom discussions that I hadn't even thought of. Some of which didn't always make sense, but they would always add something unique. They used their imaginations on a daily basis, and loved reading fantasy and fiction books like The Chronicles of Narnia, and they really enjoyed the Spirit Animals book series as well.

Needless to say, these classes were polar opposites, and I had to change my approach to teaching them differently. I had to present my lessons in ways that each class and student would understand, and I had to teach in a way to would engage them and teach them to love learning. It was a little challenging at first, but I definitely grew a lot just within those two years.

I will always remember both of these classes. I really enjoyed them both, and I learned so much from them. The most important thing I learned from these two classes was that of having a mindset of adaptability when approaching education.

Every one of my students has taught me something new throughout the years, and they're always happy to know that I'm not just teaching, but also learning alongside them. I show them that the journey of learning doesn't stop when they leave the classroom, but continues all throughout their lives in whatever they decide to pursue.