Thinking about my personality, I tend to think that I am more of an extrovert. But, I do have a lot of times where I believe I am an introvert also.
Most people who know me would say I am an extrovert because I love to work with people and talk! I am involved in many activities such as coaching sports, playing sports, and volunteering because I always want to be around people. I have recently moved back to the city because I like the all the different people and action that is going on. I really enjoy different social events and will get bored when I do not have something planned. I tend to live my life by diving right into things and choosing experiences with others over having alone time. I am a person that thrives off of taking risks and I make decisions quickly.
Now there are times where I may seem that I am an introvert. There are days that I do like to have to myself because I don't do that often. I also may come off as an introvert if I don't know you that well. I do tend to be more quiet when you first meet me because I like to observe and decide if I'm going to come out of my shell.
As an educator, I need to make sure that I am reaching, respecting and appreciating my students being both introverts and extroverts. I need to realize that a quiet classroom is necessary to have during parts of the day, so that students can use that time to think and focus. I also plan to set up my desks different ways throughout the year instead of always putting them in groups. If I put my desks in rows or have the option of an individual spot, I will reach those introverts. Having different sharing options will also reach both students. I will mix it up with partners, groups, recording with technology, whole group, etc. This way I will reach all student's comfort level of sharing. In first grade, we do a lot of group and partner work. I want to implement more opportunities to work independently first and then move to group work so again I am giving both introverts and extroverts their needs. I think it is important for both introverts and extroverts to be put in their uncomfortable situations to learn how to work through them, but I need to balance it for both personality types instead of leading my classroom for mainly extroverts.
You bring up many great points and visuals in your post. First off, I love your picture on how to read both extroverts and introverts. It is great to have something like that in writing, because it is easy to forget that there are so many different types of learners in your classroom, especially when you have a million other things you are worried about.
ReplyDeleteAnother great thing in your blog was the point you made about both introverts and extroverts having to be put in uncomfortable situations. Most of the biggest learning moments come when someone is not in their comfort zone. After listening and talking initially about the two groups, I was thinking right away that my introverts are probably uncomfortable a lot and that I have to change that. But then I sat down and thought more about it, and I need to put my extroverts in more uncomfortable situations that will help them learn, just like my introverts. There is definitely a balance though, and I need to keep working to find it.
Great post!
Thank you for sharing about YOU! It is fun for me to get to know each of the learners in our community even better! I wonder what more examples of meeting the needs of learners in your classroom look like? I wonder how well our Minneapolis Blended 5 Learning Community meets the needs of our extraverts and introverts?
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