Frazzled.

On Tuesday, I saw something that shocked me: a teacher who was visibly frazzled! This is somewhat of an urban legend to me. I’ve heard about teachers being overwhelmed and acting frazzled, but I’ve never seen it. It does exist! Teachers are not emotionless robots who are immune to daily stresses. At our practicum site, our CT was visibly frazzled from the minute we walked into the classroom on Tuesday. She was frustrated because she was supposed to teach a mandated literacy lesson from a program that she did not like. This was a scripted lesson that she felt did not teach the students in the way that they best learn. She was frustrated because on top of having to plan and prepare for this, she is scrambling to make up for all the missed days of school (due to the weather or holidays). It was really nice to see that even an experienced teacher can become slightly overwhelmed. 

Now, like a true pro, our CT did not let the fact that she was frazzled take away from her classes or her lessons. She put on her “teacher face” and taught her students as she normally would have. If she had not personally told us that she is not a fan of the literacy program that is being adopted by the school, we never would have known she felt that way. It was awesome to see that even experienced teachers can become overwhelmed, but that this does not affect their lessons, the show must go on!

            I felt like it was good to see that even an experience teacher gets frazzled, because I know as both a student and a future educator that it is not realistic to be completely calm and in control at all times.

            One of the things that stuck out to me from our observations this week was how much I admire the relationship that our CT has with her students. Her students know when to settle down, focus, and be serious, and in turn, she knows when it is okay to joke with them. She uses humor a lot in her classroom, but not in a “corny joke” kind of way. She uses humor to motivate her students, to inspire them to do their work or answer a question. Her relationship with her students may stem from the fact that she has the same students for two years, but I like to think it is more of her personality. She constantly uses positive motivation and praises the students, but not so much that it does not seem sincere.