What a question. My first reaction is to write, "Hey! I'm still changing!" I'm not ready to look backwards yet. But here goes.
When I started, I waffled when students would make excuses for late work. I graded more easily on some essays than I should have. I graded harder on others than I should have. I thought that making punctuation marks or writing "WC" (word choice) all over their papers was being helpful. I was scared to approach the standoffish student. I was inconsistent in my classroom management. Sometimes students would talk excessively or make off-the-wall comments, and I would either overreact or not do anything.
Eventually, like all teachers who stick with it, I began to feel a bit more sure of myself. I'm constantly changing things up, and I am by no means always consistent with behavioral stuff. There is still a student or two in each class that freaks the hell out of me and I probably don't engage with them as much as I might. But I'm better than I used to be, and after grading hundreds of essays, standards for average, way off, pretty good, and excellent begin to emerge and it just gets easier. I also don't try to be especially funny or appealing. That's making the class about me, when it should really be about them. (OK, sometimes I go for the zinger or a charming smile. I'm only human, right?)
I hope this isn't too nauseating a personal growth essay. Is it possible that the end of this 30 day challenge has made me just a tad verklempt?
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