Self-disclosure can be difficult because you’re not just
potentially being vulnerable by opening yourself to others but also it can have
others lose their credibility in you. However, it can be so strong by having
your students trust you more. I started the semester being closed off from the
students where it sometimes felt like there was a glass panel between myself
and them, I still didn’t feel confident being their instructor. Most of
the students were the classic zombies who would stare at me with blank and
unblinking expressions. As a horror movie fan, this didn’t bother me until they
all would magically come back to life at the end of class to pack up and leave.
What was I doing wrong?
I asked myself and others what I could do to get them
to be more engaged in class, there truly had to be something. I incorporated
pop culture, memes, jokes, and other stuff into my teaching but they would
instead react as if I was a cringey teacher. I remember staring at the ceiling
of my apartment one day, thinking this question all over again. Like all good
ideas, one hit me at around 3 am. I realized that my class was majority orange
personalities and had a learning style of activities. I started to implement
this within my discussions, slowly moving away from power points and soon
enough, more students started to come back to life and join the discussion.
With this, I took a risky move and started disclosing more of myself into the
classroom. If I wanted to learn more about them, I needed to do the same as
well. I shared with them my own narrative of how I loved Pokemon during
impromptu speeches. I did the same process of planning that they were expected
to do. They got to see my own anxiety of doing an impromptu speech, one student even asked me "you look nervous. But you're the teacher though." and with that I explained how it's different being put on the spot and so many of them visibly looked more relieved than before. I did a
silly attention grabber of singing and acting out the intro song to Pokemon and
started on how Pokemon is my favorite video game. Since then, students will
start a conversation with me about pop culture or video games the few minutes
before class starts. Silly how something small as an electric mouse really
helped in bringing together the class. #SucksYes!
Hello Jen,
ReplyDeleteWe should be Minun and Plusle! I too used a Pikachu gif. I recall seeing your powerpoints from the beginning of the semester and thinking, “Woah, I wish I could do that!” It is neat that you know your students color so well and were able to integrate this knowledge in the classroom and accommodate your student’s learning styles. It reminds me of the lyric from the Pokemon theme song "You teach me and I'll teach you". It sounds like you and your students have lived up to this! You've been able to challenge yourself in teaching them in new ways and explore methods outside of your comfort zone and your usual practices.