This week I'm in the middle of producing an assignment to end my Open University's present course. I've found the course tough going because of the style of presentation in the course text book. Every few comments are interupted by yet another task for me to complete and I have found the flow of the text too severaly interupted to be able to follow the ideas. The assignments have been even more frustrating to complete and I have struggled, not to do the work, but to complete them in the format they have insisted we use.
Next week I begin two more courses. The start of new courses is usually an exciting time. yesterday my course material arrived for the courses but sadly the only difference on one of the courses is that instead of studying algebra, I'll be studying goemetry. I'm greatly disappointed as I know I'm going to have to work harder about being positive about the course, than on the course content.
The course I attended in the summer provided times of reflection on our learning the previous day. One of the things we openly talked about was how the course was giving us, often painful, reminders of what it is like to be a learner.
Looking at my disappointment for the coming months, in a way it must be how many of my pupils feel when I say we're about to study an area of maths they find difficult. Or when I keep badgering them to set work out in a particular way and they want to just jump straight in with an answer.
Having met the authors of these courses in the summer course, I hold them in great respect as people who are not only knowledgeable, but from observing them, also great classroom practitioners. I need to change the way I view the coming months. There will have been great discussion amongst them about not only the course content but also the way it is presented and the best way to enable us as learners to formerly write down our thoughts about our learning.
This is a challenge, not a trial! Although at times it will feel like one. If I go into the coming 12 months with the expectation that I will hate it, I most probably will! Alternatively I can choose to see this experience as more than just a means to an end, but as an opportunity to learn new ways to improve my own skills as a teacher and to extend my learning and understanding of topics which I really enjoy in maths.
Life is full of challenges, it's how we choose to approach those challenges which determines our enjoyment, success and commitment.
Learn to face life's challenges with good expectations and excitement of what is in store. Never predetermine they will be unpleasant and a waste of time. Yes, I'm talking to myself as well!
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