It's a weird dynamic being both a student AND a teacher. There are those that look to you as an instructor, a supervisor, a leader, and, in some circumstances, a life coach. To those people you are a teacher, an adult, a grown up who knows things and has power, and they are your students, your pupils, those who expect and deserve GOOD teaching.
Then the coin flips and you are a student, inexperienced, still learning. You are not yet the grown-up adult, YOU are the one who needs instruction and life coaching. Maybe its not really an oxymoron. Maybe we are all both teachers and students at the same time.
Don't get me wrong, I've been a bossy pants for most of my life and thought that I should be teaching those around me in my classes. But my role has always been clear at a given time. While teaching private students, I was a teacher. While in class, I was a student. While being bossy, I was still a peer, just being bossy. Now I inhabit both spheres at once. I'm the center section of the Venn diagram.
At any given point in the day, I am teaching, and demanding respect from my students (though they ARE high-schoolers so the level of success with that varies a bit) while simultaneously being observed as a student.
Maybe it will be easier at the Elementary School. Perhaps these students are too close to the college kids I've spent the last 4 years with as a mother hen/big sister position. The young'uns will be easier to distinguish as students and I will feel more "teacher-ish"....maybe.
There's not real point to this post....its just a weird moment. It's messing with my brain.
That being said, I adore the students at the High School. They are great kids with lots of passion and tons of talent. I'm happy to have had the time to spend with them in what ever capacity I may be.
