I consider myself an 100% an introvert around adults. I get
very overwhelmed by too much social interaction with my peers and relish quiet
evenings at home by myself. I have really come to enjoy living by myself and
don’t miss having a roommate at all. I sometimes can appear quiet or shy, but really,
I like to rehearse my answers in my head before I share them with the large
group, in order to ensure that the response I am giving is of quality and that
I am able to clearly communicate my point. Often by the time I am ready to
share the conversation has moved on. I often get annoyed when my time is wasted
by people when they share things that are off topic, so I try really hard to
make sure before I share something that it is relevant and will add to the
discussion.
In my classroom, I have several spaces where students can work
alone instead of with a group. Because my classroom is assembled into pods I
also have an individual desk, counters where students can stand and work. I also allow students to spread out and have
space in the hallway, inside my cupboards, or under my desk. Kids have a lot of
freedom in my room to work in the way that they are the most comfortable. They
can also wear headphones and listen to music during worktime which helps with
the simulation of the middle school classroom. During small group discussions I
often have students write their answers down before they share them in their
groups to allow my introverts time to rehearse what they want to say. In the future,
I want to work on increasing the amount of wait time when I ask student a question
and I am waiting for a verbal answer during whole group discussions. Ellen
brought this up at class the other day and I think it’s a great idea because I
hear from the same set of students over and over again and this might allow for
more of my students to answer.
