How to Cooperate Effectively: A Guide for Cooperating Teachers

How to Cooperate Effectively: A Guide for Cooperating Teachers (2012)

Overall synopsis: This user-friendly guide includes numerous tips and bits of advice for teachers who are considering having a Student Teacher or who are about to begin a semester with a Student Teacher. All advice comes from experienced Student Teachers (oxymoron?), based on their experiences with their Cooperating Teachers. Don’t forget to check out the appendixes which include self-reflection forms for both the Student Teacher and the Cooperating Teacher!

Chapter 1: Taking Interest and Welcoming

Welcome! In this chapter, you will learn about how to make your Student Teacher feel welcomed so that he/she does not feel as if he/she is intruding your classroom. You’ll learn some different strategies, which include giving your Student Teacher a tour of the school, making a desk/work area for your Student Teacher, and providing your Student Teacher with classroom materials (such as paper and lesson plan books). Also, you’ll discover some ways you can take interest in your Student Teacher’s personal life (without getting TOO personal) because your Student Teacher may have a lot on his/her plate in addition to student teaching such as working part-time to make ends meet, taking care of a family, and completing college courses.

Chapter 2: Introducing and Interacting

This chapter explains, in-depth, how you should introduce and allow your Student Teacher to introduce himself/herself to your classes as the beginning of the semester. Importantly, the way you introduce your Student Teacher affects the way the students view him/her for the entire semester. Furthermore, the chapter explains how to interact with your Student Teacher in class, including in front of students, around colleagues and administrators, and with parents present. The way you interact with your Student Teacher around other people wholly affects their opinion of him/her.


Chapter 3: Assigning Teaching Units
Sometimes your Student Teacher has not read everything you want him/her to teach to your students… and that’s okay! This chapter will explain, in detail, what resources you should provide to your Student Teacher when assigning a teaching unit, how rigorous the teaching load should be, and how to communicate expectations to your Student Teacher in regards to designing his/her own teaching units. Also, you will learn about how far in advance to assign teaching duties to your Student Teacher (so that they may plan accordingly if they have not read something you would like him/her to teach).

Chapter 4: Providing Feedback
Feedback as often as possible is the key to success in your Student Teacher’s final semester before having his/her own classroom. In this chapter, you will learn how and when to provide feedback to your Student Teacher. Specifically, you will learn the appropriate amount of feedback to give your Student Teacher and how to effectively communicate suggestions to him/her. Also, you will learn the importance of providing at least two positive comments for every criticism you make because (let’s face it) being a Student Teacher is a difficult job to undergo.

Chapter 5: Relinquishing Teaching Duties
Smile! You’ve survived having a Student Teacher! His/her placement ends very soon and he/she will have a classroom in the fall. So, how do you regain teaching duties in your classroom? This chapter answers that question and provides detailed information as to when you should relinquish teaching duties and how to let your Student Teacher relax his/her last few days in your classroom before they graduate because you appreciate all the help he/she has provided throughout the semester WITHOUT being paid!

Enjoy reading!

September 28, 2008

September 28, 2008

Dear Sarah,

As you walked out of the SEC office today, you have only the vaguest idea of the adventures and obstacles you will face on your journey to becoming an English teacher.  Over the next four years, you will face some of the most trying and fantastic moments you can only imagine right now.  Some days you will feel completely defeated and on others you’ll feel like you can save the world.  Don’t let the difficult times drive you away; let them shape your preparation for becoming teacher.

Sarah, one of the most important things you’ll learn in your final year as pre-service teacher is that you can never plan enough.  You’ll very soon realize that, as a pre-service teacher, you’re not the best at everything, but being prepared and organized is something you do have a little control over so ALWAYS be ready to teach.  Also, always have a lesson AND a backup lesson ready to teach to your students.  Not only will it make you look good in your CT’s eyes, your students will appreciate it.

Ask questions as often as possible and gather plenty of resources.  With every chance you have, ask experienced teachers questions, for advice, and for teaching resources.  When you begin your first year of teaching, you’ll have talked to a diverse group of teachers and have well-rounded information.

Become involved in your placement school, Sarah. Don’t just stick to hanging out in your assigned classroom.  Interact with other teachers and become involved with extracurricular activities or school programs.  Since these are so important to students and with them spending much of their time participating in these activities, spending your time getting involved will be beneficial in connecting with your students.

The pre-service program at WSU will help you in so many ways, Sarah.  While your education classes will not be prescriptive, they will make you feel prepared for the situations you’ll encounter during student teaching and your first year of teaching.  Spend time getting to know the faculty members of the College of Education; they can provide you with a wealth of information.  Also, pay attention to Dr. M – she knows her stuff!

Again, Sarah, good luck over the next four years.  They will be harsh sometimes, but even on the days you hurry to your car after school with tears streaming down your cheeks, hoping no one sees, the next day will be better.  The next day after that will be even better.  You always have a chance to improve; you’ll learn to adapt as needed and surround yourself with positive people.  Above all, Sarah, don’t lose hope because you’re not doing this for yourself, but for your students.

See you in a few years,

SH

Another Insight on Differentiation

After reading “Teaching English Language Arts in a ‘Flat’ World” by Jim Burke, the article for the Discussion Circle in seminar class, my awarness of the different skills a literate person needs in a “flat” world dramatically increased.  In today’s world, teachers need to train students to use a variety of literacy skills.  Some of the skills mentioned in the article are synthesis and evaluation, which also happen to be higher levels of thinking in Bloom’s Taxonomy.  (It’s funny how everything in education sort of connects, isn’t it?)

So, my question is, how can I effectively differentiate instruction in my lesson planning in order to activate higher level thinking skills and teach students the various literacy skills they will need?

After reflecting on the article and thinking about the needs of my current and future students, I created a list to differentiate instruction.  Feel free to use it or offer suggestions to make it even better.

1.       Get to know my students – It sounds simple, but I have decided to create a detailed survey and distribute it to my students at the beginning of the school year.  It will help me better understand their needs, instructional preferences, and motivations.   For example, in addition to asking students about their likes and dislikes, I can survey students about their previous English classes, their favorite activities in the classroom, and their favorite types of projects, in order to help me determine the best way to differentiate instruction.

2.       Student-led discussions – In order to create an authentic and differentiated discussion, I decided to allow my students establish their own rules for discussion, write their own discussion questions, and decide what the flow of discussion should look like.  This will allow students to use their unique literacy skills to select what is important in a text.

3.       Choice in assignments – Allowing students to choose what types of assignments they submit will also differentiate instruction in my classroom.  With each unit, I will create approximately 10 different assignments that require the same amount of work and use different skills.  I will allow students to students to select which of the 5 assignments they want to complete.  Whichever 5 assignments they do not select, they must do for the next unit, which will help them develop all types of literacy skills over time.  Assignments will be anything from character analysis to creative writing.

4.       Choice in projects – Similar to number 3, I will allow students to have a choice in their projects.  Depending on the unit, I may allow students to choose a novel over which they will complete an outside reading project, or select how they present researched material to their classmates.  Students will also be asked to reflect on what style of learning they prefer.

5.       Centers – Although it may sound elementary, I believe centers can have their place in the secondary classroom.  During any given unit, I will have students complete several different mini-assignments that require them to work with the text in different ways.  This will allow students to manipulate the text in their preferred way, but also experiment with new ways.

References

Burke, J. Teaching English language arts in a flat world. In Beers, K., Probst, R.E., & Rief, L.  Eds. (2007) Adolescent literacy: Turning promise into practice (pp. 43-60). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Silence.

“Please summarize the story for the class.”

Silence.

“What’s the theme of this text?”

Crickets chirping.

“Is the main character reliable?”

A pin drops.

These are the responses, or lack thereof, I get when I attempted to have my sophomore classes discuss a text; a few times this semester, my CT has been absent and I have worked a discussion into my lesson plans, only to have it blow up in my face.  Before class begins, I envision a perfect dialectic discussion in which students not only share their ideas, but clarify and analyze their classmates’ responses.  Unfortunately, that’s not at all the way it actually happened.

This is my fault.  My students are not having productive a discussion and it’s completely my fault.  What can I do to fix this?

In his article, “Tom Sawyer, Teaching, and Talking,” Robert E. Probst addresses ideas such as having better discussions in the classroom, increasing the quality of student questions, and improving student listening.  After reading this article, I developed some of my own strategies that I will use in my student teaching and next year when I have my own classroom to have more effective classroom discussions.

1.        The Question Box.  This strategy is something I thought of when answering my own questions for seminar last week (I was the Discussion Director).  After reading a text, students will be asked to write one question they have about the text; it can be anything about a character, setting, plot, or even the author.  After they write their question, they place it a physical box, called The Question Box.  Depending on the class, I may or may not ask students to put their names on their questions.  The following class period, I will pull out the questions, read them to the class, and ask students to respond to them.  After discussion is exhausted for each question, I will ask students if the question produced a good discussion.  If they say yes, I will ask them why and if they say no, I will ask them how the question could be improved.  This will get students thinking about their questions and eventually they will write more effective questions and have better discussions.

2.       Summarize/clarify.  During classroom discussions, after a student has finished his or her response, I will randomly select another student to either summarize or clarify for the rest of the class what the initial student said before moving forward in the discussion.  This will greatly improve student listening skills, as they will never know when they will be selected to summarize or clarify.

3.       Advance discussion questions.  When I have a classroom discussion planned, I will prepare a list of questions, give them to students, and inform them that they will have a discussion and must have answers prepared.  Giving the questions to students in advance and allowing them to develop answers will increase the quality of classroom discussions, as it allows to students to thoroughly think about something and write a response before vocalizing it in class.

I’m sure I will add to this list later as I think of more ideas.  What are some strategies you use to increase the quality of student discussions?  I am looking forward to reading your ideas!  Thanks for reading.

References

Probst, R.E. Tom Sawyer, teaching, and talking. In Beers, K., Probst, R.E., & Rief, L.  Eds. (2007) Adolescent literacy: Turning promise into practice (pp. 43-60). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

“Are you sure you’re really a teacher?”

“Ms. Herbert, how old are you?”

“You don’t look old enough to be a teacher…”

“Um, student teacher? What?”

As a student teacher, I face such questions/statements on a daily basis.  Just this morning, during first hour, my CT asked me to watch the class of seniors while she ran an errand to the office.  I agreed and as she walked out the door, she shouted, “The class will be just fine!”  Man, she couldn’t have been more wrong.  Not even thirty seconds after she left, my classroom turned into a zoo.  Three students (who are strategically placed in separate corners of the room) began shouting and throwing paper wads, leading the rest of the students down a dark path of unfocused, off-task behavior.  I panicked.  I did not know what to do. 

Long story short, I was able to get the class under control before Mrs. Bradley got back, but it wasn’t easy.  On top of that, I felt wholly disrespected by my students.  Who could blame them though?  I am just a student teacher in their eyes.  I mean, I get mistaken for a student in the hallways.  Clearly, they think they can bend the rules when it’s merely me in charge.  So my question is, how can I look and act more like a teacher to my students, rather than just another one of them?  I need some serious help in the management department, friends. 

In The First Days of School, Harry and Rosemary Wong convey the importance of establishing solid routines and procedures on the first few days of the school year or semester.  However, since I am entering a classroom that is not mine during the middle of the school year, I feel defeated.  Nonetheless, I brainstormed a list of ideas I can try out in my student teaching experience.  Please feel free to share your own and evaluate mine.

1.    Continue to dress and act professionally – Thus far, I believe I have maintained a personal disposition and appearance in my placement.  If I continue to do this, I believe it will reinforce that I am here as a teacher, not as a friend to my students.

2.   Stop students’ misbehavior before it starts – I believe that when students are actively engaged and participating in their learning, the chances of misbehavior significantly decrease.  When I begin implementing my own lessons, I will ensure that my students are constantly working on something so that they are too busy to misbehave.

3.   Be consistent – If I catch Molly texting on her phone during class, I need to follow the same procedure as I did when I caught John on his phone.  When students see that I act consistently and fairly with every student, they will see that I am a polished and professional teacher.

4.   Ask for help – As a professional, I will constantly ask my colleagues and fellow student teachers for guidance and thoughts about what I am doing and how I can do better.  Veteran teachers may have some tricks up their sleeve that could potentially help me with my management concerns.

Now two weeks into student teaching, I still need to establish myself as a figure of authority to my students.  My sophomore classes are willing to share their ideas with me and ask me for help on assignments, but the senior classes very much want to challenge my authority and test my patience.  Hopefully I can change this with my own list of ideas and with the responses I receive.

Thanks for reading!

*All names have been changed to pseudonyms to protect privacy.

It's Picture Day (Genre Reflection #2)

It’s picture day.  Today’s the day to look your best, shimmer brightly, and make a permanent impression.

The newly refined young men and women file into the steamy classroom on the cramped third floor of Awesome High School with combed hair, tied shoes, and ironed clothes.

This picture is going in the yearbook.  This picture will follow you for the rest of your life.

With a tiny twinkle in their eyes, they all sparkle just a little bit brighter today.  Anna flashes a toothy smile at a compact mirror she carries in her purse as a final measure.  Jackson and Nicholas, two smiley boys who love making others laugh, scramble to get ready for their photographs.  Other students, also unashamedly, ready themselves for their pictures.  My eyes fixed on the students’ eager expressions, it finally hits me.  Mrs. Bradley follows the students with their picture packets as they walk down the hallway together in a messy line while I am left alone in the overheated classroom with William Shakespeare posters, a chalky blackboard, and haiku poems.  I am left alone to ponder my new discovery at 9:57 in the morning by myself.  I walk over to the window, gaze out at the busy highway, and it let sink in: these students care.  If they care about their appearance on picture day, they are bound to care about things such as grades, school, teachers, and their future.  That is all I need.

Before this exact moment, I was longing for affirmation; I needed to know that my students are even capable of caring.  It sounds awful, but makes sense after teaching The Creation of the Navajo People not to a class of twenty-one students, but to a class of twenty-one zombies.  Zombies who stare blankly and refuse to answer discussion questions unless directly called upon.  Today is different though.  I got a glimpse of what I was dying to see.

Students don’t care.  I’ve heard this and other variations of the idea many times.  Maybe, just maybe, I have even occasionally believed it, too.  I will never believe it again though. Not after today. Students care.  They may not care about Native American poetry, literature vocabulary, or 11-sentence paragraphs, but they care about something.  For now, they may only care about the exact placement of each strand of their recently colored treated hair on picture day, but I can use this concept to make students show me that they care about something deeper.  Not only is it my duty, but it is one of my goals as a teacher.  It will take time and might possibly make me want to rip the hair out of my scalp, but I must persuade students to show me the something they care about and when I can skillfully do this, I can make them care about dramatic irony, understatements, iambic pentameter, and American Romanticism, just like it’s picture day.

*All names have been changed to pseudonyms.  

Paper Wads and a Substitute Teacher

A few weeks ago, my CT, Mrs. Bradley, informed me that she’d be gone for a few days; she told me that a substitute would be in the classroom, but that I’d be in charge of second hour.  I was excited and nervous, as Mrs. Bradley had not missed a day yet this school year.

Monday morning came soon enough.  When I walked in the classroom, a substitute teacher was sitting at Mrs. Bradley’s desk.  He introduced himself as Mr. Taylor. He was one of the creepy subs no one likes and I knew he was going to be entirely unhelpful.

On that rainy Monday morning, my students, usually angels, were unruly savages, screaming obscenities and throwing paper across the room.  What in the world have I done?  I thought this to myself and attempted to remain calm: “Zachary, please pick up the paper wads and sit down at your desk.” He looked over at me, saw that I was serious, and followed my instructions.

I turned my back for a mere second to discipline Zachary, but when I looked back, Jessica and Tammy, two of the best behaved students in the class, were out of their seats talking, laughing, and distracting others students.  Once again, I kept my cool: “Jessica? Tammy?”  They looked at me as I continued, “Please return to your seats and finish your assignment.” They rolled their eyes at me and stomped back to their seats.

 

However, the hour’s excitement was not quite over.  As I slowly paced through the classroom, monitoring the class several minutes before class ended, I overheard Samantha and Veronica:

“Hey, Sam? Can I borrow your assignment? I didn’t do mine. I’ll bring it back tomorrow.”
 

“Sure.”

Samantha passed the assignment over and Veronica gently slid it into her binder.  The bell was going to ring any second.  What should I do?  How do I handle this situation?

Rrrrriiiiinnngggg.

I had to do something.

“Samantha and Veronica, come see me, please.”  They reluctantly walked over to me.  “Did you give your assignment to Veronica, Samantha?”

“No, I didn’t.”  Samantha stared at me coldly.

“I saw you hand your assignment to Veronica when she asked to borrow it.”

“No, she did her assignment by herself.”

I studied her face for a few seconds: “I hope that when you two turn in your assignments tomorrow, you have completely different answers.”

They rolled their eyes at me and murmured, “Okay” as they entered the hallway. Mr. Taylor, the substitute who was completely useless during the hour’s events, stood their dumbfounded throughout the conversation.

Well, that could’ve gone better. I need some help.  What are some good classroom management ideas for first year teachers?  Well, I’m glad you asked.  After doing some research, I found an awesome non-print text (kudos for me!) that offered some great tips for first year teachers.  It’s a video called New Teacher Survival Guide: Classroom Management and highlights a first-year teacher, Ms. V.  Here are some classroom management tips I learned:

·         Develop individual strategies to redirect students who act out.  When I create individual ways to help students who tend to misbehave, this will help the entire class stay focused.

·         Use games and competitions to keep students engaged.  Believe it or not, high school students still get excited about classroom games.  If I create an assignment that allows student to compete, this will minimize the chance of misbehavior.

·         Break down lessons into their smallest component parts.  By breaking down lessons into the smallest piece possible, students will know exactly what’s expected of them and will be less likely to get off track.

·         Use whole class strategies like positive narration.  Highlighting students who are doing well will make the rest of the class want to be recognized too, increasing student attention and minimizing misbehavior.

What do you think of these strategies?  What are some you’d like to try in your classroom next fall?  What other classroom management strategies can you suggest?

By the way, after I graded the assignment Samantha gave to Veronica, I discovered that they decided not to cheat. :)

*As always, all names mentioned in this post are pseudonyms.

Works Cited

New Teacher Survival Guide: Classroom Management. Teaching Channel, 2011. Film. <http://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/new-teacher-survival-guide-classroom-management>.