Learnings from the Student Teacher Panel and Palmer

Along with the day-to-day experience of being in the schools, as exhausting and exhilarating as that is, you have had the opportunity to hear words of wisdom from a veteran teacher in Parker Palmer, and from relatively new teachers who were where you are not so long ago.  

What feels immediate and practical for you?  What feels conceptual, important and deep that will take time to absorb?  

Name at least three things you will take with you, and maybe have already applied, in your thinking, pedagogy, or interactions with students or colleagues this week.  Tell stories that illustrate your struggles and/or successes.  What new questions or inquiries have arisen?

Questions for Student Teacher Panel

What do you want to know from a panel of successful student teachers who are now currently teaching in various schools?  Think about your curiosities and ideas about time management, classroom management, relationships with colleagues and students, planning, grading, etc.  You might also bring up questions related to the Parker Palmer chapters, as far as teaching from identity and integrity, and what that actually looks like (although they did not read Palmer, at least not in ST Seminar).

List some questions that you have.

Response to Parker Palmer

In the introduction and chapter one, Palmer makes the case for teaching being a spiritual endeavor, and that "To educate is to guide students on an inner journey toward more truthful ways of seeing and being in the world" (p. 6).

Does this resonate with you?  In what ways?

He also makes the case for teaching beyond technique and honoring subjectivity.  As novice teachers, you are probably depending on techniques and strategies.  Have you experienced some times when you have reached beyond this?  Describe those, and how that felt different than implementing a particular technique.

Or, if there is something else in these chapters that you would rather write about, please do.

I will post a second prompt regarding questions for the student teacher panel.

My Week

My week was great! I began solo teaching which went a lot more smoothly than I thought. I have noticed that a large majority of the students are already comfortable with me. There a very small handful that are on the cusp, but are holding back for whatever reason. I have to say that I am extremely satisfied with the way lessons have gone. I made sure to over plan for every lesson, but never needed it. I am amazed at how fast a 55 minute period can go!

I have made sure to incorporate writer’s notebooks into every lesson. I ask students to share, but do not require it. At the beginning of the week students were apprehensive to share. As the week went on fifteen out of eighteen students shared!! I found this amazing and did not expect it to happen so quickly. My thoughts are that they are feeling more comfortable as a classroom community and more comfortable with me as their teacher.

The only hiccup I am having with this one particular class is that two students (a boy and girl) are constantly having side conversations. It becomes disruptive when other students are sharing or when I am addressing the class with prompts or activities. I have stopped class and waited for them to notice, and I have also called them out on it in class. I have spoken with both students privately to inform them of the behavior and that I will move seats if necessary. At this point there are not assigned seats and I really wanted to avoid assigning seats.  I have informed both students that they have had two strikes and upon the third strike I will be moving their seats. Today is a new day and I’m waiting to see how it turns out. 

Jessica's Reflection: Week of 9/8

I had a pretty good week! I continued with the two classes I've been working with, American Lit and Creative Writing. With Creative Writing, we talked about being specific in our writing and using concrete detail, similies, and metaphors. We also established a new norm, which is Friday as a "Writing Day". This means that there is no direct instruction on Fridays, only time for them to produce as much memoir writing as they can. Every week will have a theme. This past Friday, the theme was "Tina Fey Day" as all the prompts came from her book Bossypants. I think the students enjoyed having time to write about a variety of things as well as being able to choose from a large number of prompts. It's also a nice treat first thing on a Friday morning!

Creative Writing is a small class and I almost never have an issue with students sharing their opinions or their writing. This makes sense to me -- it is an elective, so most students feel comfortable with their writing. I'm having a different experience with the American Lit class.

American Lit is a class of 11th graders who are very chatty and funny. However, in full-group situations, they are reluctant to share their thoughts or writing. We begin each class with a journal and I often have to "draft" people into sharing what they've written. After being observed on Thursday, however, I've gained new strategies to start small and build toward full-group sharing.

Speaking of being observed -- that went alright. I'm honestly pretty disappointed in myself because of a number of little things that I realized I should have done differently right after the students left the classroom. That being said, I did learn a lot about thinking on my feet and time management. I feel confident that I will have a more clear plan for editing my lessons when necessary moving forward.

All in all, I had a good week. Tomorrow I will take over my last class, which is World Lit with 12th graders. We will be reading The Things They Carried. I'm pretty nervous about teaching a whole book -- I've never had to do anything close! -- but I'm really interested in and excited by the text, so I'm feeling good about it! :)

As Time Continues to Fly

               This week, there was no prompt, so I decided to reflect on the transition process, and differentiating between classes.  These are two ideas that are coming up in my placement recently, and I thought I would take the opportunity to share.

                Over the past few weeks, my host teacher and I have been slowly transitioning responsibility from him to me.  This gradual picking up of responsibility has allowed me to be a presence from day one, and allowed me to grow more comfortable with my place in front of the classroom, and with the classes I will be taking over during this process.  By the time of the “final hand-off,” I will have a good grasp of what needs to be done, and how I need to present myself to each group (at least, I hope I will).

                This brings me to my next point:  differentiating lessons, not between students, but between classes.  One of the things that I could see from the beginning of my placement was that my host teacher seemed to make changes to lessons on the fly, interpreting things that I didn’t notice, and “mixing things up.”  It seemed like a useful skill, and something I desperately wanted.  Unfortunately, I seemed to be blind to the sixth (or is it seventh) sense that seemed to be in play here.

                But, through the “gradual release of responsibility,” I think I am finally understanding the differentiation necessary.  As my host teacher has said (or rather, what he says in the approximated words my mind remembers), “you can’t teach every class the same things in the same ways.”  In other words, you need to know the class in question on a “personal” level, not just a curricular level, if you want to be effective.

                As we go forward, I am trying to get a sense of where everybody is, and how to “mix things up.”  It’s slow work.  I am trying to edit rapidly and, not on the fly, but after rapid-fire self-analysis after classes (and segments of classes), so that each class can benefit from the previous one.  I am waiting to see how this works in the long run, and I hope to someday be able to “edit” on the fly myself.

                All in all, the gradual release of the classroom responsibility and the emphasis on seeing each class as an individual entity is the thing that is foremost in my mind right now.  As the semester moves forward, these are some of the things that I will continue to work with to better my teaching skills.  There are some new things we (mostly I) am going to try in my future lessons and lesson planning, and I look forward to trying them.  Classes are like students, they need individualized instruction.  And the sooner I get away from “one size fits all instructional strategies” (really more like “designed without a specific classroom community in mind strategies”), the better.  I’ve already started the process, and now I need to see it through.

My Wednesday.

Tuesday night I prepared for the following day with the mindset that I was going to continue my Co-teaching model, where I teach a portion, and she teaches a portion of class, but instead on Wednesday I woke up to a text from her saying she wasn’t going to be able to come into class. I went to school nervous as to how this would be fixed. I had been instrumental in helping to make the unit we were on so I knew everything that was going to be taught that day, but I still wasn’t prepared for what ended up happening.

I went into the classroom, it was free period first so I spent the hour preparing for the four classes to follow. All the while the school radio reminded me that they still hadn’t found coverage for my next class. At the last minute the department head of English came in. He was going to cover. As I explained to him what today’s lesson was on I realized that I knew enough to do it. I told him I’d take the lead, and I taught the whole period. This proved beneficial to me, as I got to be observed teaching by the department head, so I ended up with some solid feedback for what I can improve, and what I’m doing well.

Unfortunately the rest of the day didn’t go that smoothly. They took away my advisory period from me, which was great because I have absolutely no clue what to do in advisory. They meet once a week so I pretty much never see them. All the while I didn’t hear any announcers asking for coverage, so I assumed I was all set. I taught my first class thinking, well I was going to take over that period this week any way, but I was hoping that someone could take the lead for the last three. One minute into start of that class the announcer asked for immediate coverage for that class. I realized I had to take over. Fifteen minutes went by before a sub came in. Since I had already started I figured I might as well keep going. This one was more difficult, but I made it through.  

  

                The last two classes were the most difficult. At this point they didn’t even have coverage so I took them both over completely alone. It was honestly one of the most exhausting, frustrating experiences of my life, but I survived. By the end it made the rest of the week feel so much easier because hell I’d already taught a whole day by myself. What’s one or two classes going to do? In the frustration of teaching students who have behavior problems by myself I ended up breaking any nervousness I felt about taking control of a class. If I was going to survive I’d have to be an authoritarian presence in that classroom, and while I can’t say I’m the best there is, I definitely made huge strides. 

This week the gap between the motivated and unmotivated begins to be revealed.  Students are starting to give me small bits of information about themselves, and show interest in me as a person.  These appear to be the motivated students.  Others will take longer.  In some cases, I have information about them which helps me to understand why they might need more time to place trust in an adult.
My cooperating teacher and I continue to forge our relationship.  This week we spent a good amount of time grading papers.  We graded separately and together.  Then we discussed our differences.  I led my three classes a good bit, and we made plans for more of this this week.
I will say a few things about what I noticed regarding contextual factors.  I see the principal frequently, and he doesn't wield his power in an intimidating manner.  He just does not have that sort of physical presence.  One of the assistant principals deals with discipline issues relating to 12th graders, so she is present frequently in the areas of the building which I frequent.  She has a strong physical presence, and I wonder if this connects to her ability to do this particular job well;  I suspect it does.  She has good boundaries insofar as being chatty with teachers;  which I respect.  I see the hallways throughout the day, and I hear teachers connecting with students during these times.  What I hear is frequently very positive; a level of interest in students which is alternately caring and firm.

Danielle-Week Progress Report

This week was very odd for both teachers and students. That one day off on Tuesday provided what almost felt like two Mondays. In fact, I had a difficult time keeping my students organized and not distracted on the Wednesday following. Not many students wanted to partake in the chapter discussions and we did not get a lot done. It did not help that Wednesdays were late start days, making all the classes shorter. With these two obstacles, the class ran short on time. On Thursday, I gave a pop quiz on the reading. Those who had not been doing the homework or did not partake in the discussions now had to demonstrate what they did know. Many of them did exceptionally well. This quiz helped me see who was reading and who was not, and who I have to assist when they get to their end of book writing assignment. 

What I did not expect was the amount of students who suddenly participated after the quiz. It was refreshing and I hope it will continue. 

Friday was a quiet day and we had students get their progress reports. I am not sure if I like strictly online grading and I am thinking of keeping a paper gradebook for my own records, until I get the hang of the online one.

I am very eager to begin my own unit once the students finish this book. Since the class is American Literature, we will be focusing on American myths. At the end of the book they are currently reading, the narrator discusses a myth that the Native Americans of his reservation have for a particular lake. I think it will be a great starting point.

Reflection on Akin

I invite you to reflect on what you read in the Akin article, "Out of Despair: Reconceptualizing Teaching Through Narrative Practice."

1. Akin shares how writing has become part of her practice, and that "Through writing narratives I place myself in a position where I can learn from my work, I participate in the definition of my own practice, and finally I assume responsibility for who I am as a teacher" (p. 68).

What do you think it means to define your own practice as a teacher, particularly in light of the rest of this article?  What are ways that you, even as a student teacher, are already assuming responsibility for your teaching identity?

2. Akin also writes about how upsetting it was to find that the "grand narrative" of teaching is false, and she offers an honest counter-narrative to what it means to feel like she's failing, even as she is giving everything she has.

As you teach and run into what feel like failures, what can you take from Akin that will sustain you?

3.  If there is something else from this piece that resonates you, go ahead and write about that.  Just follow the guideline of being honest.