I have a fascination with personalities- that is, truly learning and examining what makes people tick. This passion has carried over into my teaching and is one of the tools I use to get to know my children in effort to see them grow and progress throughout the year, and is an especially important approach in the world of Special Education (as has this interest been extremely helpful as a writer).
Some children have a keen self-awareness and a natural ability of verbalizing what they like and don't, and what their limitations are. This is great, not only for the child, but for the teacher. Part of our job, before building that essential relationship, is learning about the child's interests, learning styles, and comfort zones -basically getting to know them. A child that knows what makes him frustrated, say participating in a loud game with the class, can conscientiously learn to work within a group, prepare for the frustration, and work through it with a support person like the teacher, to make it a feasible task without a blowup.
One that doesn't know this about himself may have an unexpected blow up when the teacher pairs him up with a group, or may be clueless how to step away if the noise is unbearable. The first step in his remediation is awareness of the dislike or sensitivity and communication with the teacher. Now, you're both prepared for the event and can learn strategies that make participating in a loud, large group easier or possible.
I was not one of those self-aware children... and it wasn't until middle school that I had a teacher call out my visual learning style, which I took as an insult. Maybe it was the way she said it.
"I can see Aim'ee is a visual learner..." like I wasn't as smart as the others, but what the teacher was probably noticing was my artistic side, always doodling, mostly respondent to visuals, not so much to teacher lecture or books on tape.
The one thing I did know as a kid, as far back as I remember, was that I was shy. It took years to learn how to be assertive. I don't think I even knew what the word 'assertive' meant until well in my 20's.
Picture a little girl, quiet and timid, always off -playing by herself, always drawing, a little odd, a little inattentive, but smart and bold in her unique way. I assume this was how I might've been perceived as a child, though even in high school, with years of good grades and honors classes, I felt like a dumb reader if after one story I was in la-la land.
Had I understood more about my personality, I probably wouldn't have beaten myself up over not seeing a story the first time, but might've learned how to reread and take notes, or catch that I was distracted -instead of going for my own throat. Or just learned that I was a little bit of a perfectionist, if I knew what that was, and that all I needed was to teach myself to lighten up and read it again. I was clueless about my own personality at 17 years old.
These days, I make it a point to help my students learn more about themselves at 10, what works for them, what doesn't, what distracts, what livens them. The kids seem to eat this up. They love learning about themselves, and they love me giving them the attention they need. A boost of self-esteem just at the process of learning who they are -you can't argue that.
The best tool yet, is helping students learn not to beat themselves up over something they don't understand. It's amazing what a little self-awareness will do.
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