Prompt: In class this week we talked about the role of being a teacher. Central to that role is understanding the nature and needs of students and then “meeting them” at that spot to help them take the next steps in their learning. Consequently, I frequently use the phrase “meet them where they are” as a shorthand for these ideas. This is both a philosophical concept and a very practical one. At this point, what I am asking you to do is explain this idea, in your own words, using examples from your experience to illustrate your arguments.
This is slightly confusing to me, but I think the idea of “meeting them where they are” comes from a place of empathy and understanding. To meet a student or child “where they are” would take getting down to their level and looking at the situation/lesson through their eyes. As an educator it is extremely important to be able to put yourself in the student’s shoes and try to see where they are coming from. Children aren’t developmentally able to grasp some situations and ideas in the same way adults are, so it’s important that we go down to their level and explain it to them in a way that they can understand. It is also necessary to treat each child as an individual because they will all understand concepts in different ways. We must go down to
their level and then try to build their own steps to get where we need them to be. This may include asking questions, re-explaining, and getting rid of our expectations of where they should be. An example of this would be when I worked at an overnight camp this summer and had a group of 9-11 year old girls. I had an idea of where I thought they would be as a whole and how
I would explain things to them. However, I had a child who struggled with comprehending many of the concepts and while it took a lot of patience, I had to eliminate the expectations I had of the age group and think of her individually. I would ask questions like “How can I help?” and
“What part is hard for you to understand?” and then I would be sure to really listen to what she was saying. I re-explained plans in ways that broke it down to the simplest terms and I went step-by-step through each situation. Many times, after I explained, I would ask questions back about what the plan was just so I knew that everything was clear. I think meeting her where she was is exemplified here.
