It’s been awhile since I’ve last updated this blog. From January to early May, I’ve been consumed with the transformative exercise known as student teaching. At a fairly white, suburban high school in culturally-deprived northern New Jersey, I taught American history to juniors, seniors (my high school was unique in that it required a fourth year of social studies whereas the state only requires three) and–in my elective course called American History Through Film–sophomores and even freshman. So its fair to say that I experienced a well-rounded student teaching internship.
Initally student teaching can be brutal. As a not-yet-rookie teacher (education professionals still contend that the first year of teaching is the most difficult) you don’t know what you are doing. You try some things and they either work or they don’t. One particular physics teacher gave me some pertinent advice: “If you’re able to execute one good lesson a week, you’re ahead of the game.”
I’m not sure if I delivered a good lesson each week. Perhaps I did, but I certainly survived with a more fundamental grasp of what it’s like teaching in today’s public schools.
If I were to advise education majors who are about to emark in student teaching, I would give the following advice:
1. Plan, Plan, Plan. And then Plan. This cannot be stressed enough. My cooperating teacher decided to throw me into the fire quickly; consequently I did not have enough time to create any new ideas. I found myself planning the night before, especially into the wee early morning hours.
2. Be Flexible to Deviate from Said Plan. You have to plan just so you can deviate from it. And you will deviate from it. Students will ask you questions and you might go off on a sidebar. You might realize that the beautifully created activity takes more than the 40 minutes for which you planned.
3. Seek Advice From Everyone Who Will Give It. I was lucky to have such a welcoming and inspirational social studies department. Everyone was tremendously supportive and offered advice whenever I asked for it. Seek out other members from your department. Also consult teachers from other disciplines–I asked for help from English to Spanish to physics teachers.
4. Don’t Take This Too Seriously. This is advice that for the great majority of my fifteen-week experience I didn’t follow. It wasn’t until after spring break that I found that I could relax. Once I became comfortable in the classroom environment, it was time to go! Enjoy the kids and they will enjoy you back! Relax! Have fun! Experiment. This is where you can discover yourself as a teacher.
In later installments I’ll be writing more on this subject but now that my student teaching experience is finished I’m off to find a job. Wish me luck!
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