Consider the following statements and questions from Palmer’s The Courage to Teach: ‘Good teachers possess a capacity for connectedness.’ They “weave” the connections between themselves, their subjects, and their students on ‘the loom of the heart.’
How does that image speak to you? What is your experience of trying to hold the tension of these connections in your heart?
This image speaks to me because that is the heart of good teaching. Even if teachers know their own subject well, generally the horrible ones are the ones that don't care about the students. They don't care whether or not the students understand. They present the information in one way and if the students don't understand then too bad for them. The great teachers can connect the subject to the students and connect to the students themselves. My experience is that making a connection with the students encourages them to do well in your class. I had a student recently who failed a test. She was a solid B student and she was apologizing to me and assuring me that she would do better next time. I felt like saying, "Hey it's your grade not mine" but I didn't because I was a little shocked that she was worried about hurting my feelings. Hey, whatever motivates them right? If me having a connection with my students, and them having respect for me as a person is going to encourage them to try harder in my class then that is just a positive side effect of my personality. Whether or not me having a connection with the students actually made them better students wouldn't really matter to me as having a connection is important is the only reason I teach. Interacting with the students is one of the most rewarding parts of the job. If developing that relationship is going to encourage them in my class, all the more reason to try to develop that relationship.
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