I’m guessing every educator was perfect when speaking in front of the class as a child…right?
I mean, I know I was.
Really.
Okay, we can all stop lying now.
I was very shy. I hated talking in front of the class. I even made my brother use the telephone for me because I didn’t like to talk to people. What if they laughed? What if I messed up? What if…
So how did I (and you) end up in front of an audience of 25 little people every day as a career?
I’m guessing that somewhere along the line, someone made you speak in front of the class. Then another time. Then again. And they made sure that the audience was respectful, and they encouraged you afterwards, and you did not go into cardiac arrest in front of the whole class.
***Side Note*** One of my favorite scenes from “What About Bob” is when Bob Wiley (a hilarious Bill Murray) is in Dr Leo Marvin’s office (a stoically funny Richard Dreyfuss)
Okay, so what’s the point here?
Kids are kids. We teach them things like math and reading and geography and nutrition and how to get along and how to learn…we also need to teach them how to speak in front of others. Mostly they just need practice. And encouragement. And a respectful and caring classroom.
Because if we could watch the movie of your life, we’d see many people along the way making you practice and encouraging you and providing a respectful, caring classroom for you.
And if you could, you’d thank those teachers.
