what have you got to lose?

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Home : 2002 : July : 31

what have you got to lose?
By Shawna

It's my belief that honesty goes a long way with students. This last year was my first in the profession, and as others have indicated here, I came to it via an alternative career. I had many reservations my first days/weeks
of teaching about how honest I should be - with parents and students - about my experience. Initally I spoke of my education (I have a masters in teaching), my background in the classroom (2 years - student teaching and volunteering), and my general experience with students their age (2 different 5th grade classes in two other schools). As kids so often do, they called me on my flippant

and/or vague answers - and asked me exactly how long I had been really teaching. Without a thought, I was upfront and honest.

Instead of creating management problems and chaos, my honesty made the year particularly special for all of us. They knew they were my guinea pigs - and that we would teach each other along the way. They were honest about how effective lessons/projects were - they let me know when something worked, and when it didn't. One student summed up the year through a poem she wrote: "Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm glad you taught me, I'm glad I taught you too."

While it is important to maintain control of the classroom environment, students want to connect with their teacher. If we can't be honest with them, how can we expect them to learn from us - or each other? I honestly think it does matter - you must earn the trust of your students, and one fine way of doing this is being open and real about your experience (WHICH IS VALUBLE EXPERIENCE!!!)

Good luck. It will be fun.