Teaching degree moans - self-pitying mostly

[Kal]

I'm on a Primary school teaching degree at the moment, having left a mind-numbingly boring, but otherwise ok job for this.

I'm currently on the first placement and I'm not getting positive feedback about my teaching skills so far. The problem, from my point of view, is that I'm not from a teaching background - I've no experience in teaching a class, behaviour management or anything like that - and I could do with some extra support to help during this time.
There are two "mentors" in the school, but both of them are the infants section, and I got placed in the juniors which has different break times and finish times so I rarely see them. The other student (this is supposed to be a joint placement but we've been split into different classes, so it isn't really) is actually in one of their classes and gets fulltime advice and help with her placement needs. I don't think she actually needs it that much as she's been working as a teaching assistant for the last year or so.

I've managed to get a failing interim grade and lesson observation and the mentor who actually speaks to me (maybe once a week as opposed to the specified 3 hours support each week that I should be getting) tends to ask "Are you sure you want to be a teacher?" and "Have you thought of doing something else?" which is kind of disheartening when I'm doing my best with the knowledge and abilities that I have.

I've sent an email to my personal tutor at university, so hopefully something will come of it, but I have to be honest, this has really kicked my confidence in and I'm not sure that I'll pass this placement or even be able to teach if I do.

[mathnerd]

The cardinal rule of teaching is Document, Document, Document! If you haven't done so already, write down, to the best of your recollection, every attempt you have made to schedule time with your mentors, the dates of any meetings and how long those meetings were. Document your attempts to get help with the things you were struggling with and what the response of the mentors were. Take that and schedule a meeting with your university supervisor/program coordinator. You should be getting more support than that.

On the other hand, my only "support" was "Here's the books, here's your classroom. Good luck." Sometimes you have to dig pretty deep into your own resources, spend your own time researching and find your own mentor, even if it's not somebody in the school you're teaching in. It's not right and it's not fair, but it does happen. I had a pretty successful 10 year teaching run before I left teaching for the flexibility of a corporate job due to the medical needs of my kids. It wasn't fun at the beginning, but it was doable.

You can do this too. It won't be fun and it won't be easy, but you can do it. I wish I could offer more advise, but I taught older kids. The little ones scare the begeebez out of me!

[Seshat]

Teaching is largely the process of figuring out how to communicate what you're trying to convey. The significant element - IMO - is getting inside the other person's - or other peoples' - head; understanding what aspect it is that they're not understanding.

When I'm trying to teach something, I spend half - or more than half - of my time listening. I know this might not be possible in a school environment, but watch and listen to the kids when they're doing exercises or playing. Get to know them, what their concerns are, what sort of language they speak with each other.

I'm not suggesting that you use slang, but .. well, if they use 'act' instead of 'behave', or 'understand' instead of 'comprehend' and so on, speak that language.

With the behaviour; you could do a lot worse than to read the dog training book "Rover, DON'T roll over".

[Sapphire Silk]

I'm not sure I'm understanding. Are you saying you were allowed into a classroom setting to teach without having first had preparatory coursework on how to manage a classroom?

You can't just jump into a class with kids unprepared. Who allowed you to do that and why?

[Kal]

I'm not sure I'm understanding. Are you saying you were allowed into a classroom setting to teach without having first had preparatory coursework on how to manage a classroom?

You can't just jump into a class with kids unprepared. Who allowed you to do that and why?

The support I had was all from the class teacher - which was ok as far as an example to follow goes but he's not a teacher-trainer.
The problem was since there are two mentors in the school, both of them seem to think that the other should be dealing with it. I've had a couple of weeks of watching other teachers to pick up some strategies, but that's about it.
To get on the course I had to get enough classroom volunteering experience (20 days as it turns out) but it's very different to actually taking a lesson yourself and I could have done with extra easily reachable support. :P

[fireheart]

The support I had was all from the class teacher - which was ok as far as an example to follow goes but he's not a teacher-trainer.

This is pretty much my reality in terms of having a "mentor". Generally when I'm on prac, I will have my class teacher as a mentor teacher.

The problem was since there are two mentors in the school, both of them seem to think that the other should be dealing with it. I've had a couple of weeks of watching other teachers to pick up some strategies, but that's about it.

I would contact your university/teachers college and let them be aware of this and also contact the principal and let him know about all of this.

To get on the course I had to get enough classroom volunteering experience (20 days as it turns out) but it's very different to actually taking a lesson yourself and I could have done with extra easily reachable support. :P

Those 20 days are good for behaviour management, but not enough.

And a few tips from someone who's been there, done that and is about to go on her final prac

-Get a notebook and folder-they do not have to match, but colour-coding would suit. This is your "teacher planner". Inside the notebook, I write up my sections as follows:

-School details (who to contact, classroom, demographic info etc.)
-Class background (what they've covered so far, details about the classroom, daily routines etc.)
-"Child profiles"-a couple of lines about each child, including things like strengths/weaknesses, health needs (if any), special needs (if any) and any other extra-curricular or other stuff you need to know (friendship groups!)
-Things to remember from training etc.
-a day-by-day breakdown...kind of like a "diary". Depending on how long you're going to be there for, this works better for 2-4 week stretches.
-teacher feedback.
-Any work samples or similar for reflective practice (I found this out the hard way and almost had no evidence to show my tutor at uni for a teaching portfolio!)

In the folder I had:

-Lesson plans.
-A class timetable if the teacher had one. We used this as a way of determining my workload over my 4-week period, so week 1 I'd have science highlighted, week 2 I'd have science and maths, week 3 I'd have science, maths and English etc.
-Any handouts I received from my mentor teacher.
-Any handouts I received from the SCHOOL! (some schools have a book they give all staff)
-Work samples.
-Any worksheets used for lessons.
-Anything that needs to be laminated or otherwise protected.
-Health information if the school hands out a copy to all student teachers.
-Class list with year level and if possible, age.
-Reading/maths/science groups.
-Reports from the university/teaching college. This is a BIG one.
-Email correspondence.

The folder does not need to be a hugely expensive flashy one either.

-Don't be afraid to ask questions. You are there to learn.

-Teachers, parents and students alike will appreciate one thing: consistency. If you come into a classroom and have a brand new way of behaviour management that you'll try and teach them, it may not necessarily work compared to the teachers method. I used the teachers method over the 4-week period I was there. The students actually preferred it over the substitute teachers method! (we had 2 different subs over a 4-week period. One of them the kids were familiar with, the other one used a different system and the kids acted better in my classes) Note that this may vary between teachers: if you have a method you'd really like to try, run it past your mentor teacher first.

-Get to know the photocopier and the laminator. They will become your friends.

-If you have kids in your class with special needs (ones that the teacher is ALREADY aware of), ask the teacher what has been done/needs to be done and research the need in question thoroughly.

-Don't overthink your lessons. I've gotten by with a simple idea of letting the kids make 3D shapes. They were actually able to retain the information from something so simple as making a shape from a net.

-One BIG BIG BIG thing, particularly with students who have learning disabilities (dysgraphia, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysorthographia, non-verbal learning disability, auditory processing disorder, ADHD) and speech difficulties, is to NEVER ASSUME THEY ARE DUMB. I'm sorry, but this has come up a LOT with experienced teachers and a couple of my mainstream buddies fell into this trap on their first teaching prac, partially due to their mentor. You'd be amazed at the amount of knowledge a kid with dyslexia has . (In order of my above list, that's difficulty with writing, difficulty with reading, difficulty with maths, difficulty with spelling, difficulties with reasoning and something else I can't quite remember, difficulties processing the information heard (NOT a hearing impairment))

-Try and get involved in as many areas of school life as you can. Take part in yard duty, attend staff meetings, help out with the bake sale if there is one. It'll show that yes, you are serious about wanting to be a teacher.

-Finally, have fun! It does not make a good practicum if you do not have fun along the way. I still have a video of my Year 3 students on my last prac doing a little dance routine to Gangnam Style

[Kal]

I would contact your university/teachers college and let them be aware of this and also contact the principal and let him know about all of this.

-One BIG BIG BIG thing, particularly with students who have learning disabilities (dysgraphia, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysorthographia, non-verbal learning disability, auditory processing disorder, ADHD) and speech difficulties, is to NEVER ASSUME THEY ARE DUMB. I'm sorry, but this has come up a LOT with experienced teachers and a couple of my mainstream buddies fell into this trap on their first teaching prac, partially due to their mentor. You'd be amazed at the amount of knowledge a kid with dyslexia has . (In order of my above list, that's difficulty with writing, difficulty with reading, difficulty with maths, difficulty with spelling, difficulties with reasoning and something else I can't quite remember, difficulties processing the information heard (NOT a hearing impairment))

I've emailed my personal tutor about this and arranged for a meeting when I get back to uni next week. It needs to be cleared up for the next person placed in that school at the very least - I'd feel guilty knowing someone else might end up in exactly the same situation next year.

Out of the 16 days so far, I've filled about fifty pages in my notebook (using quick notes, it's about double that in A4 word pages) so I've been taking notes.
I've also got a folder which is fairly well-packed now with every bit of info I can get - copies of every worksheet done, photocopies of the book pages used, timetables etc. I figured that I needed to take whatever help and feedback I could get and written down many, many tips from the other teachers too (one suggested using a tiny address book, alphabetise the tips by topic and keep it with you at all times to refer to in work and placements).

There is actually one child in the class with a learning disability (not sure what exactly, but he also wears hearing aids) and, if I phrase the request the right way, he catches onto ideas just as fast as anyone else. To be honest, he's got rather more work ethic than some of the ones who find it easier and he reacts really well to sincere praise, given incentive he'll do the best work in class.

[fireheart]

I've emailed my personal tutor about this and arranged for a meeting when I get back to uni next week. It needs to be cleared up for the next person placed in that school at the very least - I'd feel guilty knowing someone else might end up in exactly the same situation next year.

Yes, PLEASE do. I requested in my first year to be sent to a waldorf school. That ended up being a disaster. Now the uni is aware that if they are going to send students to that particular school, that they need to be in a junior or lower-primary class only. (For a Waldorf school that's classes 1-4)

Out of the 16 days so far, I've filled about fifty pages in my notebook (using quick notes, it's about double that in A4 word pages) so I've been taking notes.
I've also got a folder which is fairly well-packed now with every bit of info I can get - copies of every worksheet done, photocopies of the book pages used, timetables etc. I figured that I needed to take whatever help and feedback I could get and written down many, many tips from the other teachers too (one suggested using a tiny address book, alphabetise the tips by topic and keep it with you at all times to refer to in work and placements).

Nice to see that great minds think alike.
Just be careful with some of the feedback though: if any of the advice relates to students with particular needs, the strategies recommended by a class teacher will not always work for that particular student.

There is actually one child in the class with a learning disability (not sure what exactly, but he also wears hearing aids) and, if I phrase the request the right way, he catches onto ideas just as fast as anyone else. To be honest, he's got rather more work ethic than some of the ones who find it easier and he reacts really well to sincere praise, given incentive he'll do the best work in class.

If he has hearing aids, be sure that you look directly at him when speaking and if the teacher has a FM unit, USE IT.
My two last year with LD (one confirmed, one suspected-his comprehension skills were poor and his spelling was...questionable) had reasonable work ethics, although we had to separate one of them on occasion from his buddies in class.

One little quote from my teachers: "If you set the bar high and give them a chance, they will work to reach it."

[Seshat]

I have both a hearing disorder and a hearing comprehension disorder. Most people, I just say I have hearing problems - it seems to be enough.

But I'd much, much prefer to have written than spoken instructions. ALWAYS.