Teaching the Everyday
Student Teaching Reflection
Mrs. Baer is a veteran teacher with over 20 years experience, and we worked together in a true co-teaching model. As such, many lesson materials were already set for the semester. During the “gradual release” of taking over instruction, I had the opportunity to observe her classroom management style, as well as develop my own with a single class to start with that grew as the semester progressed.
I got to see how Mrs. Baer handled different situations as the Electives Team Leader, and how much showing that you care can really have a positive impact on others. This isn’t just about being compassionate and enthusiastic with the students, but with staff as well! Some staff members were going through their own challenges
In my semester at Bell Middle School, I had many opportunities to learn from my co-teacher, as well as my students. Some things that went well was how I was able to walk in and I immediately felt like a teacher. I didn’t feel like a mere “sidekick” to my cooperating teacher, nor did I feel like I was “sinking” in the instruction. The gradual release, and use of the coteaching model helped me to work cooperatively with another teacher, as well as grow in my own teaching styles.
A Lesson on Caring
during the school year, and taking care of fellow teachers is important, if you take care of the teachers, you end up taking care of the students as well!
One specific example was when she took the initiative in making sure one of the longer-term substitutes has some of the school-wide curriculum for her classes, and that she felt welcomed and appreciated. That substitute came down to our class one Thursday to give Mrs. Baer some papers for the teacher of that class, and said a very sincere “Thank You”. Mrs. Baer kindness and hospitality spoke volumes to that substitute! I hope to do the same with other teachers, and my students in the future.
My advisor once asked me my overall feeling about student-teaching using a scale of one to ten. I said eight, because I would have liked to have had more independence in selecting some of the curriculum. I have since changed my mind, and would now definitely say a ten!
I’ve always been pretty independent, and with so much that I want to teach, I wanted to delve into some aspects of Family and Consumer Sciences that just didn’t seem to fit in the short amount of time we had in the semester. One of my friends completed her student-teaching during the spring, and she had a very stressful experience and she felt constantly under pressure and overwhelmed. I also spent time with a couple of different first-year teachers, who described how overwhelmed they felt, especially
at the beginning of the school year.
They didn’t know what they would be teaching on a daily basis which gave them a lot of anxiety.
As I said before, I was activated by the National Guard and missed a couple of days of instruction. If I had been the sole teacher during that time, the schedule for getting through our curriculum would have been set back by nearly a week! Many of the units are intense when it comes to facilitating the use of machines like ovens, stoves, and sewing machines; I don’t think I would have left those kinds of units be managed by a substitute.
So, despite what I originally wanted, it was better that a tried-and-true curriculum was already set, especially as a student teacher or first-year teacher.
Would I Make Any Changes?
I remember reading an article about a teacher’s experience when she decided to follow a student around the school for a couple of days. She didn’t just shadow a student, but she did all the things a student was supposed to do in each class. The article got me thinking about what my own students go through on a daily basis.
I think about how short my class is compared to the rest of the day
of a student and all the demands and expectations that are in each class, often changing. With all of these thoughts in mind, I think I would make expectations more visible in the classroom as gentle reminders so that students won’t have to be reminded by me telling them. I would also probably make more visual references in the class so students simply have access to various content covered in class.
The Visual Classroom
Differentiation is one of the most challenging aspects of teaching. With co-teaching I’ve had the opportunity to work individually with students who needed the additional help, but I’m having a difficult time seeing how I could have met their needs if I was alone. In these situations, I think I would talk to counselors and other teachers for ways to engage students who need more scaffolding.
Something else I think I could work on as I continue in my career
is to have at least three different levels for each assignment. One would be “center mass” what the majority of the students could accomplish; while the other two would be adjusted to those needing more assistance and those who are far exceeding expectations and need more of a challenge. This endeavor could certainly take a lot of time, but I think it would be worth the effort.
Differentiation
Parents
There were three interactions with that parents showed me that many parents do want to be included in their child’s education, and email may be one of the best ways to contact them on an individual basis. This type of communication allows for discussion about individual students with their education team (their parents or guardians), it is great for words of encouragement but some precautions should also be considered.
Mrs. Baer and I discussed the importance of including counselors with some students, because we are often not “read-in” to the lives of some of our most challenged students. Electives are sometimes left out of discussions about some of our students who could use a more concerted effort among all their teachers to help them in their education. Discussing potential points of discussion and contact with counselors before reaching out to parents can prevent possible awkward conversations or confrontations.
Students
I tried to be more accessible to students and did this by setting up folders for students to have an open dialog with me if they wanted to talk. I found that this approach didn’t work, as they didn’t access the folders on a daily basis, and there weren’t always Chromebooks available in the class. A less technical, but more efficient way to communicate was through my development of “bookmarks”.
In these bookmarks, each table came up with a team name, every student’s name was on it, and a list of assignments was listed in a table. If students had a check-mark in the block next to their name and the assignment, it was turned-in. If not, then that assignment was missing. It is a little bit of duplicate work, but I found that some of the students were able to easily see what they were missing and offered to make up the work, or they had the work and turned it in right away! It took a little bit of time, but was very useful in communicating about assignments and grades.
Communication
Deciding to Substitute Teach
On Wednesday, October 26, I was informed that I was being activated to work a Search-and-Rescue mission from Saturday, October 29 until Tuesday, November 2. I was most fortunate to be co-teaching classes with my cooperating teacher, and this sudden departure did not negatively impact our classes. Being a National Guard Soldier, I understand that I can activated and sent on assignment without much notice, and that those assignments are not always just for a few days.
It can be a difficult task to try to get a substitute teacher, especially last minute like what would've been the case for me. The task can be very difficult, particularly if you are going to be away for long, or don’t know how long you’ll be away. Getting called away by the military, and knowing that I don’t feel ready to settle into a full-time job right away; I’ve decided to substitute teach until I am able to retire from the military.
Furthermore I want to be endorsed in Career and Technical Education, and for Family and Consumer Sciences that includes working 1200 paid hours in retail, food service, or child care/education. I’ve been in technical fields my entire military career, with little experience in the required fields for the endorsement. Working as a substitute teacher will help me get the hours required to get the endorsement to make me more marketable in the future.
Mock Interviews
I really found the mock interview with a couple of seasoned teachers to be one of the best experiences of the semester. They suggested that I really research a school, and reference school websites or events that are occurring. It is also good to notice what the school’s primary concentrations are. Additionally they gave me some great pointers about how to go about being an exceptional substitute teacher.
One of these recommendations was how I should try to stay focused on one or two schools so I can build a good rapport with specific schools. This point really struck me because I was wanting to substitute in many different districts so I could see which one I would most like to be part of. Having someone with more experience give me that kind of advice was really helpful in guiding me in a better way of thinking about my substitute teaching experience. My own cooperating teacher also said that substitute teaching will also give me the chance to glean different ideas about classroom management and project from other teachers in the field.
They told me their thoughts about what makes an exceptional substitute teacher. Some of those thoughts included actually following lesson plans left by the teacher, and sending an email summarizing that day’s events.
Future Plans
I have learned a lot in the past few months, a lot about working with students everyday in the class, what it’s like to work with other teachers and administrators, and deciding where I want to take my career after graduating university. It was great to see that my philosophies and thoughts about education can grow, based a lot on classroom experiences, and also the experiences of others.
Conclusion
Photos
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