I've had some time to decompress and start to think about my student teaching experience. First off, I think I want to make sure it's clear that I had a great time and learned alot from my mentor teacher who I really got along with. That being said, I saw and experienced many things that have made me try to formulate my own ideas and philosophies.
I think that the most concerning attitude I experienced was the "us VS them" thought pattern. It seemed that some of the other teachers and their student teachers focused on waging a war against their students. It became a challenge to pick the right day to give a quiz to make sure that the kids hadn't done their homework and did badly on the quiz so that they'd "learn" to do their work. Or taking the tricky question off an assignment, changing it slightly and putting it on the test just so that they could say "it was on the homework!!!!".... Neither giving quizzes or putting modified homework questions on a test are really questionable. But the reasoning behind it seemed so adversarial to me. It was hard to work through. Especially because my mentor teacher really bought into the "we're all on the same side" mentality. He believes that he is there for the students and we're supposed to work together. That seems so much more reasonable.
I was also slightly bothered by the low expectations. Some of the teachers seemed to have low expectations of the students. They placed the "few" who they thought would be able to go on to post secondary on a pedestal and then kind of smiled at the rest. I know that this is born out in reality, but there was a well stated belief that most of them didn't have a chance. They expected students not to do their homework or study. They expected students to behave poorly. Other teachers had much higher expectations. One big place where teachers seemed to differ was on how students behaved while doing individual work. Some classes were LOUD and others were much more orderly and quiet.
I also really enjoyed seeing the various places where students found homes. Some students ate lunch regularly in my mentor teacher's classroom. Even if they weren't working on chem or physics, they'd meet there and eat. Other students found those homes in the art room, or film and media studies. It was nice to see that there were places for these kids to go where they could interact with an adult and feel connected to their environment.
I'm excited for my next semester. It will be more relaxed than this last one. But, it will also be challenging as I take my first math class in 8 years and go back to writing papers and exams. Mainly, I can't wait for next fall when I get to do my long placements. That has promise and I hope I enjoy it as much.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Respect and community
My time here is almost done. My teaching responsibilities are done, so another student teacher and I used today to explore the rest of the school. We discovered the amazing cosmetology department. If students complete all the modules they will graduate ready to do a 1 year apprenticeship at a salon. The education they get would cost them $10,000 from a private school. I think that's awesome.
We also watched the annual Christmas lunch time stuff. The school sets up a venue for students to perform for their friends. They sell hot chocolate and donuts and students show off their skills. I was amazed at how supportive and respectful the students watching were. They made it a very safe place for their friends. There were some great performances and some that didn't go as well. But everyone was cheered and walked away from the mic with a smile on their face. The level of respect was incredible. Students obviously feel incredibly safe to be willing to open themselves up like that. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy.
Then we spent some time with the skill class in the foods room. That was an entirely different experience. One of the student's mom was there. He's about to age out of the program because he's turning 20. And she is a bit sad that he has to leave. They seemed like they were having alot of fun and the EAs and teachers working with them were really patient and caring. My friend and I are going back tomorrow when they are in their regular classroom to see how the rest of the program goes.
Between cosmetology and the skills class, I was reminded at how narrow my focus has been for the last 5 weeks working with students taking Physics 20. A very small percentage of the students at this school are in that academic of a stream. And it's important to keep in mind that the school has a mandate to educate everyone, not just the top academic kids. But, this isn't something that's been mentioned in anyway in my classes. I have friends who got K&E assignments with their student teaching. And none of us had any clue what that even meant. (It goes, Skills, Prep, K&E, regular academic). I think that is something that was lacking from our IPT.
We also watched the annual Christmas lunch time stuff. The school sets up a venue for students to perform for their friends. They sell hot chocolate and donuts and students show off their skills. I was amazed at how supportive and respectful the students watching were. They made it a very safe place for their friends. There were some great performances and some that didn't go as well. But everyone was cheered and walked away from the mic with a smile on their face. The level of respect was incredible. Students obviously feel incredibly safe to be willing to open themselves up like that. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy.
Then we spent some time with the skill class in the foods room. That was an entirely different experience. One of the student's mom was there. He's about to age out of the program because he's turning 20. And she is a bit sad that he has to leave. They seemed like they were having alot of fun and the EAs and teachers working with them were really patient and caring. My friend and I are going back tomorrow when they are in their regular classroom to see how the rest of the program goes.
Between cosmetology and the skills class, I was reminded at how narrow my focus has been for the last 5 weeks working with students taking Physics 20. A very small percentage of the students at this school are in that academic of a stream. And it's important to keep in mind that the school has a mandate to educate everyone, not just the top academic kids. But, this isn't something that's been mentioned in anyway in my classes. I have friends who got K&E assignments with their student teaching. And none of us had any clue what that even meant. (It goes, Skills, Prep, K&E, regular academic). I think that is something that was lacking from our IPT.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Week 4
Week 4 is done. Wow! Time has passed in that weird way where it doesn't feel like any time at all has passed, but I also feel like I've been there forever. I think that means I enjoyed it.
I can't wait for next week. I feel like I'm in a groove. I like what I'm teaching, I like my students and I'm really starting to like the whole process. It's getting easier and easier to plan what I'm going to do. It's getting easier to recover from failed experiments, and then trying them again.
I started teaching my 2nd class this week. I was/am very comfortable with the first class. But it threw me for a loop the first couple days with this new set of students. They are very different. They ask different questions, get stuck on different concepts and have a different group personality. I think it was really nice to have gotten the chance to gain confidence with the first group before having to learn how to bounce back and forth. My first lesson was a bit of a flop. I felt like I got behind and never managed to catch up. That was Block 1. Then I got to Block 4 and my original group. It was like I was home. The same material went awesome.
We went on a field trip today. My mentor teacher and I took 45 grade 11 students to Galaxy Land for a physics lab. It was certainly a very different experience than the couple of field trips I've been on with Natalie where the kids held hands and walked in neat lines. These were field trip veterans. They were also really well behaved kids who made the bus driver swoon as she gushed to us about how nice they were on the bus and they all thanked her as they got off. I guess she'd driven for a field trip a few weeks ago where the teacher got to the point where he had her pull over and threatened to take them all back to the school. Our kids? None of them ever stood up or did anything that got her attention.
I think that is probably one of the things that has surprised me the most. When I tell people I am going to be a teacher, they seem compelled to tell me what little shits students are these days... I haven't seen it. I've seen students push limits (mostly in other classes). I've students try to take/get away with the most they can. I've seen them show no interest at all in their futures. But I've also not seen them be rude, even when being rudely berated by a sub for something they didn't do. I've seen them hold doors for each other and thank the bus driver. They smile and say hi in the hall and say good night if they pass the classroom at the end of the day.
It's been a good but long week. Next week I get evaluated... That should be fun :)
I can't wait for next week. I feel like I'm in a groove. I like what I'm teaching, I like my students and I'm really starting to like the whole process. It's getting easier and easier to plan what I'm going to do. It's getting easier to recover from failed experiments, and then trying them again.
I started teaching my 2nd class this week. I was/am very comfortable with the first class. But it threw me for a loop the first couple days with this new set of students. They are very different. They ask different questions, get stuck on different concepts and have a different group personality. I think it was really nice to have gotten the chance to gain confidence with the first group before having to learn how to bounce back and forth. My first lesson was a bit of a flop. I felt like I got behind and never managed to catch up. That was Block 1. Then I got to Block 4 and my original group. It was like I was home. The same material went awesome.
We went on a field trip today. My mentor teacher and I took 45 grade 11 students to Galaxy Land for a physics lab. It was certainly a very different experience than the couple of field trips I've been on with Natalie where the kids held hands and walked in neat lines. These were field trip veterans. They were also really well behaved kids who made the bus driver swoon as she gushed to us about how nice they were on the bus and they all thanked her as they got off. I guess she'd driven for a field trip a few weeks ago where the teacher got to the point where he had her pull over and threatened to take them all back to the school. Our kids? None of them ever stood up or did anything that got her attention.
I think that is probably one of the things that has surprised me the most. When I tell people I am going to be a teacher, they seem compelled to tell me what little shits students are these days... I haven't seen it. I've seen students push limits (mostly in other classes). I've students try to take/get away with the most they can. I've seen them show no interest at all in their futures. But I've also not seen them be rude, even when being rudely berated by a sub for something they didn't do. I've seen them hold doors for each other and thank the bus driver. They smile and say hi in the hall and say good night if they pass the classroom at the end of the day.
It's been a good but long week. Next week I get evaluated... That should be fun :)
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Emerging from the fog
Week 3 is done.
Wow!!!
When I realized that as my mentor teacher and I walked out of the building yesterday, I was stunned. Where did the time go? It's like over the last few days, things have started to make sense and I'm starting to feel like I'm in control. And very soon things are going to wrap up.
I've had a great time teaching for the last 3 weeks. The actual teaching part has mostly been what I expected. What has been different is all the other stuff. Things like the politics, and procedures, and all that "other stuff" that takes up so much time. Even something as simple as photocopying an assignment for the students required locating the photocopy room (one of the many doors labeled "teacher's workroom" is actually the copy room) and then having to learn how to use the machine. I could go on and on about all the little things that unexpectedly took up so much of my time, but that would take along time.
Figuring out how to work closely with someone has also been challenging. I get along very well with my mentor teacher. We are on the same page with pretty much everything (classroom management, how to relate to students, that sort of thing). But he's really good at what he does, so it's been really challenging to try to do my own thing. It's hard to come up with my own demo when his is really awesome.
Possibly the thing that gives me the most cause to pause about my future career plans is watching other teachers. Some of them are awesome. They know their stuff and they treat the kids really well. But other teachers... I need to think about how I'll feel working with/near them for the theoretical next 30 years. I've tried hard as a parent to spend most of my time with other parents who share the same basic ideas about parenting. This feels really similar. What to do?
In the short term? Enjoy my last 2 weeks which will be a blur of tests, oscillatory motion, teaching with a sub, a field trip and seeing a bunch of 16/17yos get really excited about Christmas.
Wow!!!
When I realized that as my mentor teacher and I walked out of the building yesterday, I was stunned. Where did the time go? It's like over the last few days, things have started to make sense and I'm starting to feel like I'm in control. And very soon things are going to wrap up.
I've had a great time teaching for the last 3 weeks. The actual teaching part has mostly been what I expected. What has been different is all the other stuff. Things like the politics, and procedures, and all that "other stuff" that takes up so much time. Even something as simple as photocopying an assignment for the students required locating the photocopy room (one of the many doors labeled "teacher's workroom" is actually the copy room) and then having to learn how to use the machine. I could go on and on about all the little things that unexpectedly took up so much of my time, but that would take along time.
Figuring out how to work closely with someone has also been challenging. I get along very well with my mentor teacher. We are on the same page with pretty much everything (classroom management, how to relate to students, that sort of thing). But he's really good at what he does, so it's been really challenging to try to do my own thing. It's hard to come up with my own demo when his is really awesome.
Possibly the thing that gives me the most cause to pause about my future career plans is watching other teachers. Some of them are awesome. They know their stuff and they treat the kids really well. But other teachers... I need to think about how I'll feel working with/near them for the theoretical next 30 years. I've tried hard as a parent to spend most of my time with other parents who share the same basic ideas about parenting. This feels really similar. What to do?
In the short term? Enjoy my last 2 weeks which will be a blur of tests, oscillatory motion, teaching with a sub, a field trip and seeing a bunch of 16/17yos get really excited about Christmas.
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