First off, I have to say I won the student teacher lottery. My student teacher @ochoajon8 came into his summative experience ready to take over his own classroom. I discovered that all of my self preparation to have difficult conversations was completely unnecessary and I needed to think completely differently about this process. Here’s what we’ve come up with.
I observe Jon formally 1-2 classes per day in a shared Evernote notebook so he has my notes to augment his own on how the class went. I format my feedback with these three headings:
- Lesson notes – this includes word choice, general observations (positive and things to improve)
- Reflective Questions – These are questions designed to get him to think about things that we need to think about. Some have been about our planning process, some have been thinking about the very positive things that are happening and how to make them happen more often.
- I notice you’re improving on… – What has made Jon so great is that his reflective practice is already well established. He shares his own personal growth goals with me and I let him know where I’m seeing growth. He’s great at self monitoring, but a second set of eyes is always a good thing.
Keeping all of this in a shared notebook in Evernote has turned this process into a two way dialogue about how the day went. It was difficult to talk about the specifics of the day before I started taking detailed notes and sharing through Evernote. In addition, the time constraints of our day made it difficult to plan and have the conversations we needed to have. Seeing his fresh perspective in his responses to my feedback has turned this into an extremely symbiotic relationship.
How have you framed your formal relationship with your student teachers?
What ways can we improve this process for the good of all?
Sounds like you are lucky Dakotah. I have heard many stories of student teachers and not many like yours. Your system seems pretty logical and if it is working for both of you all the better. Last year I had a Phd from MSU observing my class. He always took notes and shared them with me. His notes did not contain his judgement on what I was doing but captured all the classroom interactions. It was great for me to read because he caught interactions I quickly forgot or did not focus on. It really helped me better understand my teaching style and how I interacted with the students in my classroom.
It might be beneficial at time to just capture the moment without adding in commentary just so you student teacher can examine teaching on own or to create a conversation later. (Asking what do you think of this? Then discussing thoughts later.)
Hope it helps. Enjoy the experience.
Todd,
I’ve really liked this idea and have used it a few times. I like how it helps my student teacher concentrate on his own self talk about his teaching rather than my judgement. Thanks!
Sounds like both parties are lucky in this situation! I don’t believe it is the norm to have a student teacher walk in the door with enough skill to begin the kinds of conversations you are already having. To me, what you are describing is the kind of “coaching” or “mentoring” experience so lacking in our training of new teachers. I wonder how much teaching could improve if there were more lead teachers in buildings whose time could be freed up (by having a student teacher or intern of some sort) so that the lead teacher could go into other classrooms to observe and coach?
Sounds also like the Evernote system is working. I think it provides the space and time for reflective thinking that can’t always occur in a face-to-face conversation.
I also like how you framed looking at the positive aspects – looking at the positive things and trying to make those happen MORE OFTEN. Great way to empower teachers and learners.
It might be interesting for you to try this out with a trusting colleague who teaches a different subject than you do – use some of the time your student teacher is giving you to venture out and observe/coach/mentor a colleague who is great at reading instruction or math. It could give you more perspective on what elements of good instruction and culture cross curricular lines, and what elements might be more subject specific.
I really like the idea, I’ll try to find a place for it! I think that one thing we need to be doing more often is reaching across subject lines and looking at great teaching and stealing from it!