Week 4: It takes a village to raise a teacher

This week I have discovered the power of teaching communities. Whether it be fellow student teachers, my PLC, the school administration, my university supervisor, or my cooperating teacher, these communities make everything much more light; much more enjoyable. A few experiences this week reminded me of the scripture story (that I am totally going to butcher) of when Moses had to keep his arms raised in order for his army to win and when he needed help keeping them raised his priests/counselors came in and held them up. Here are the first that come to mind:

1. On Monday I had my first observation. By the time of the observation, I had already taught the lesson 4 times. The lesson for this 5th time went well, and was similar to all the times before. In all my class periods I had struggled with students completing the written portion of the station activities but just falling silent when it came to debating or participating in the activities with their classmates. I had tried initiating the conversations at the stations, rewording my directions, giving more time, etc. but nothing seemed to bring about the meaningful experiences I was hoping for. After my lesson, Dr. Brown gave me some advice, recognizing the issue from a one class period observation, and encouraged me to have more explicit expectations written for each station. I needed to tell the students exactly what I was looking for. The next class period I tried out her advice and it went beautifully well. I was so so so excited and happy. If it wasn't for her advice and care I would have continued to make the same mistake over and over again. 

2. On Wednesday our department and PLC met together. A few of the teachers expressed their grievances about the quality of work they were receiving from their students. I had been experiencing the same issue with my students and had assumed they were putting forth that kind of work because of my poor teaching. Yet, hearing that these teachers that had been teaching for many many years were having the same struggle as I was, I couldn't help but feel relieved. A pressure lifted and I was able to add my voice to the conversation and collaborate with them on how we could help the students write in complete sentences and bring forth higher quality work. Without that community I would have continued to beat myself up and believe that I was simply a poor teacher. Since then, I implemented some of the strategies we discussed in our meeting and the students have been turning in some AMAZING work. They are making connections to The Great Gatsby I had never considered. 

3.  I believe it was Thursday, honestly the days all run together sometimes, that David decided to skip my class and I didn't know what to do. He had taken the hall pass and just didn't come back. My coordinating teacher hadn't responded to my text about what to do, so I decided to call Ingrid, the assistant principal. I had talked to Ingrid once before, and she seemed so kind and caring, so I was comfortable talking to her. She answered right away and gave me some steps for how to proceed with the situation. The student came back and I talked with him about his skipping. He seemed to not take the situation too seriously until I told him I had already called Ingrid. His eyes got big and then promised to work hard the rest of the class period so as to avoid a truancy status on his attendance record. I realized then how grateful I was that I had the administration on my side and how hard it would be to work at a school where that wasn't the case. I felt like I had all the reinforcements I needed in order to keep my classroom spinning into chaos. 

4. Again, I don't really remember which day this was, but as I was eating lunch one day a few students came in to make up some assignments they had missed. As one student was about to leave he asked me how long I would be his student teacher. I said that I would be there until the end of the school year because I was going to be Mrs. Williams's sub while she is on maternity leave. He pumped his arms in the air and said "YES!" His response caught me off guard. He then said, "You're a great teacher, Ms. Gee. I am happy I get to have you for the rest of the year." Now maybe this student is just a little brown noser and knows exactly what a new teacher needs to hear to love a student forever, but that student's sweet comment made me want to keep giving my all. I am so incredibly tired, but if all I get at the end of this student teaching is that one moment of him pumping his arms in the air for joy because I am his teacher, then I think it would I be worth it. This little classroom community I have fosters more joy and exhaustion in my life than I ever thought would be possible. 

I could keep going, but I should probably stop. I guess what I am getting at is that it takes a village to raise a teacher. And I have the best dang village in the world.

-Ms. Gee