Exit Slip: Frank McCourt

"The best acting is no acting at all"

- Frank McCourt (at 0:33)

This quote really stood out to me because I think being honest with who you are to your students will allow your students, in turn, to open up about who they really are to you and the rest of the class. Instead of pretending to be someone you're not and building up invisible walls between you and your students, I feel that being your true self helps to build a closer connection with your students because they see that you too experience what they feel and are just as human as they are. 

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During the class discussion afterwards, the topic of how strict and how friendly should a teacher act towards their student was brought up. This reminded me about my times working as a tutor and how I've been told by my superiors that I was "too kind" or "need to be more strict." However, I've always wondered, how do you balance kindness and strictness? Sometimes I feel there's a fine line when being strict, if you're not strict enough, the students might not take you seriously, but if you're too strict, it could restrain or oppress your students and make the classroom feel unwelcoming. It makes me curious if current teachers have methods they use or perhaps, do they maintain some hard-set rules they adhere to towards their students to enact their sense of strictness? What are their definitions of strictness and kindness when in the role of a teacher? Does it differ when out of that role?