Exit Slip: Frank McCourt

Frank Mccourt was an Irish American English teacher and a writer. He is known for his unconventional style of teaching and even won Pulitzer Prize for his book Angela Ashes, which narrates the tragedies and hardships he faced in his childhood. After watching his two interviews, I am really inspired by the fact that poverty, adverse circumstances did not pose any hindrance in his path of becoming educated and attaining success in his life. His attitude of "keep going " helped him to survive in his early years of teaching. It is fascinating even without having any experience of being a high school student, he turned out to be a successful high school teacher. I believe this is because he did not have to overcome the apprenticeship of observation as a student and he experimented with his own methods of teaching. On the other hand, novice teachers usually teach the way they have been taught. Therefore, the big Idea which I think is to critically inquire and reflect upon one's pedagogy and cater to the academic and emotional needs of every student. 

In addition to this, I found it very influencing when he says " If you are teaching and not learning, it means you are not teaching". Therefore, teaching is a never-ending learning process and one learns new insights of teaching while working with a diverse group of students who have different abilities and learning styles. I can personally relate to him since I grew up and graduated in India which have different cultures and societies from Canada but his experiences really inspired me to remain confident, honest and true to oneself and also towards the students. Another interesting strategy that I learned from him is to understand the stress, emotions, frustrations they are going through and not to take them personally when they are venting out. This practice will build a compassionate and comfortable relationship with adolescents. Frank Mccourt was very flexible and humble, he goes by his students and would reject the books which his students hated and planned the lessons according to his student's interests. Hence, I believe that it is very essential to adapt to student's requirements by consistently inquiring one's teaching methods and make learning more student-centered so that they start taking ownership and become more responsible.