Pooh-character Attributes & Teaching

This week in class, we did a personality assessment. 

I learned that I was both a Pooh and a Rabbit.

Here are some attributes of a Pooh (Harmony):

• Caring
• Sensitive
• Nurturing
• Harmonizing
• Feeling-oriented

Here are some attributes of a Rabbit (Production):

• Logical
• Structured
• Organized
• Systematic
• Thinking-oriented

I find that it's very interesting that I am both a Pooh and a Rabbit. This means that I somehow find the balance between thinking with my head and thinking with my heart.

We were asked to reflect on how we see our Pooh-character attributes come through in our teaching. In my classroom, my students are fully aware that I am very easily attached to them. Even if students are behavior-issues, chaotic, and restless, I am almost another mother-figure for them. I love all of my students. I want them to feel like my classroom is a safe-haven for them. I celebrate their accomplishments with them and I grieve their disappointments as if they were my own.

However, I am DEFINITELY a Rabbit as well. I am organized to the point of insanity. I have to have my classroom completely structured at all times. Free time drives me insane. I do not like it when students are unorganized and chaotic. It causes me to even lose my focus at times, which then upsets me, which keeps me off balanced...it's a vicious cycle. I have systems in place for everything from turning in homework to lining up and walking down the hallway. When students do not follow these structures, I can get very cranky, to say the least.

I think that my two characters come together in the perfect way, though. Because I care deeply about my students, I work even harder to create lessons that my students will truly enjoy and learn from. Because I am an organized, structured teacher, students gain self-discipline and have an awareness of exactly what they can expect from my class each day. This helps them to become more organized themselves.

I can also see where my two characters can cause issues. Primarily, I have an issue with classroom management. This has improved over the last few years, but I care too much about "upsetting" my students or "hurting their feelings." I also can get more angry and upset than I should. I'm also a logical and rational person, though, and can quickly remind myself of the task that I have to accomplish. This helps me to go back to my lesson plan and begin again.

Overall, I am shocked at how accurate this test was. I can see why most teachers identify with Pooh, but I think being equally a Rabbit works to my advantage!