Self Evaluation 1

Too Far or Too Close ?

While watching myself in the video of my first official presentation, I asked myself one question: How much distance is there between me and my students? Or is there any? Of course, there has to be some distance; however, as a prospective teacher, I feel myself incompetent in preserving a logical distance between myself and the students.

I asked this question to one of my mentor teachers during an interview for our classroom management course. She said: “Well, this is a difficult question but there is not a certain answer for this. This is just an instinct. You understand how much distance you should keep with a certain group of students once you are in the same classroom with them and this changes in every class.” Throughout my practicum experience, I started to agree more and more with my teacher’s explanation.

I did my first official presentation with the high school preparation classroom. From the beginning of the first semester, I have had a very good rapport with all the students in this class. This affected my experience positively, of course. I even asked for their opinions while I was getting ready for my unofficial presentation and official presentation. As a result, their level of participation and enthusiasm during these presentations was quite high. However, there is one question that needs and answer: Would I be more successful in managing the classroom if I were a more authoritative teacher?

While I was watching the video, I had the impression that I was not very successful in managing the classroom. The students knew that I liked them and they did not always think of me as their teacher. As a result, they believed that I would not object to them if they did not participate in the activities; and this was the case, actually. I did not want to harm my relationship with the classroom for the sake of making them feel that I am the teacher. I now think that if there was more distance between us, and if I behaved like a teacher instead of a friend to these students, it would be better for my classroom management during the official presentation.

Other than that, I did not have any problems during my official presentation. The students were generally willing to participate in the activities and they replied to most of my questions. There were just a few points where I should have used classroom management skills more effectively to ensure participation in the lesson. The students should have felt that this is their lesson and that I am their teacher.