Accepting feedback doesn’t come naturally to people. We all like to think we are doing a good job at whatever task may be receiving feedback. It often makes one feel that he is un-appreciated and taken for granted…especially when he is doing something to help others.
In this day and time of social media quick retorts, feedback is almost a “given.” Everyone feels it is his “right” to set others straight or to make his favorite mission known by all. For classroom teachers, this is a new “fly in the ointment.” Allowing others to sit in a remote place and watch a classroom and the instruction going on for a whole day is a new social strain many educators are feeling right now (myself included).
Probably the hardest part of this live transmission of a day’s classroom instruction is the discipline that is often necessary. As I work with first grade children, I have to use differing amounts of and kinds of discipline all day long. Children tend to be very self-centered since they are young and inexperienced in social situations. Yet, in order to have class successfully, a teacher has to use various methods of discipline. No two children are the same…thus discipline must be different. So, as I try to teach and discipline, I am very aware of the on-looking eyes over the computer. It is quite hard to know how a single parent or learner can understand the emotions and ramifications of the discipline required for seventeen children at a time.
In the midst of this new “performance teaching,” technology raises its ugly head and tosses us off the Internet, or breaks up the sound, or just makes it difficult to transmit the lessons via email. Regardless of the tech problem, precious teaching time is lost for the class as a whole. Immediately the phone starts ringing, and my receptionist starts handling call after call of problems that parents want fixed “immediately!” Feedback frenzy drains every ounce of energy a teacher can muster. So, I say quite emphatically, if the Corona virus doesn’t get us…the technology will!
Yet, let me end on a positive note. Over the past month and a half of school, I’ve learned that life goes on regardless of the tech problems! I have even learned to enjoy and look forward to hearing comments by one of my parents. Maybe it is the thought that for the first time in over 53 years of teaching, I am able to allow someone else to share with me in my discipline problems, frustrations, and most joyous and often funny moments which are a part of the daily task of teaching children. So, I look forward to seeing how the feedback affects this most unique year of a lifetime. Together, we will overcome and survive!
- Kay