While taking my first education course in college more than three decades ago, I was required to observe a teacher at a local school. I can’t remember much about the experience except that it was thrilling to walk into a school as a teacher in training instead of a student. Two or three days each week I spent a couple of hours with an excellent teacher whose name I, unfortunately, no longer remember. I observed her, graded papers for her, looked at her lesson plans, and performed little tasks that she asked me to complete.
One day she asked me if I wanted to prepare and then teach a short lesson one day. Although I was shy and a little intimidated to take that first step of standing in front of a class on my own, I agreed and started planning. The next day my college supervisor found out what I was going to do and called me into his office and said, “I’m going to call the teacher today and tell her that you cannot teach yet. You aren’t required to actually teach until you have taken a couple of other courses.”
I assumed the professor had misunderstood the situation and thought the teacher was forcing me to teach before I was ready. When I explained that she had just given me an option, he didn’t care. He didn’t want me to teach.
He didn’t want me to teach, and I didn’t.
I didn’t understand why he was opposed to me teaching a short lesson, and back in those days we rarely asked for explanations. I still don’t know why he stopped my first teaching effort. Did he think I would fail? Did he think I needed to learn the “right” way before standing in front of a class?
When I began my student teaching two years later, I was twenty years old and scared to death as I stood before a senior class of seventeen and eighteen year olds. Oh, how much easier it would have been for me if I had eased into teaching a little at a time over the course of a couple of years instead of simply observing a teacher from the sidelines.
I have been thinking about this experience because this semester I have a teacher in training (I don’t know what the proper terminology is today since the terms keep changing.) Amanda works with me for two class periods (3 hours) one day each week. Last week I asked her if she wanted to prepare a short 5-minute lesson to teach, and she readily agreed.
Today was Amanda’s big day, and she did a goodl job engaging students and leading them to look at literature from a different perspective. I hope today is the beginning of a long line of successful and enthusiastic teaching moments that she will experience during what I hope will be a very long teaching career.
Was I wrong to encourage her to start teaching so early?
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Edie Parrott
2 comments on this topic
18. February - 4:40 pm
No more than we are “wrong” to expect at some point, our own students need to work independently!
18. February - 8:55 pm
Absolutely not!
Part of my certification required me to go to a school and teach a lesson cold. I was nervous, but glad I did it. Think about it – if the first time you ever stand in front of a classroom is when you student teach, and only then do you realize it’s not for you, wouldn’t it have been to go a year earlier?
And a five minute lesson to get a feel for it the first time sounds perfect.
19. February - 8:09 am
TU’s system is to put students in the field in the 1st semester of their Junior year. My Field I students must teach 3 lessons that are observed by the mentor and myself and work in the classroom for 50 hours. I observed 2 of those students this week. They were fantastic! The kids were eating out of their hands. I have one Field I student that I sincerely doubt will make it – not because of lack of desire, enthusiasm or love of kids, but because she does not have a good command of the English language. Isn’t it better that she know that now, in order for us to get help for her than to let her sit through 3 more semesters only to be told that she won’t make it? She is bright enough. I am so glad you are letting Amanda teach – if we just had more like you!
19. February - 10:46 pm
I agree with all of you. Margaret, your situation reminded me of a similar situation when I student taught thirty something years ago. One of the students who had gone through teacher training with us realized in the first week of student teaching that she hated it and quit. I don’t know what happened to her later. All I know is that she had almost completed four years of college with every intention of becoming a teacher and then hated it. I suspect if she had had the opportunity to teach a few lessons before student teaching, she would have discovered earlier that she didn’t like it and would have selected a different profession (and saved a lot of money).
20. February - 8:02 pm
I agree that field experience teachers should have the opportunity to plan and give mini lessons. It really puts things into perspective. I have taught for four years and have seen many examples of teachers in training not getting enough practice teaching before they student teach. A fellow teacher of mine had his field experience teacher prepare a 30 minute lesson. It took the student 2 full class periods. It taught him time management and how to pull out the most important information. I also know a student teacher who quit after three weeks. I fully support your encouragement of Amanda.
20. February - 8:07 pm
Thanks for reading! I think most people agree that we should allow teachers in training to get early experiences in teaching. As long as we don’t throw them to the wolves and scare them to death, I think early experiences will help them learn to teach.
23. February - 3:19 pm
I think it is important that we reflect on our lives and see what we would have done differently if a similar situation occured, and what you just did was a lesson in wisdom, if we as human learn from experience I think we have much to offer the world, and I think what you offered your aspiring teacher to be is a valuable gift!
23. February - 5:24 pm
Thank you! I just decided to treat her the way I wish I had been treated at this stage in her career. Funny how that works out!