To what extent were you were expected to follow a scripted
curriculum, or add your own ideas to a curriculum that already exists, or
create a unit that is entirely new?
The only expectation I was expected
to follow while doing guided lead teaching for language arts was to focus on
the fantasy genre. At Hope School, the fifth grade staff sequences their
language arts units throughout the year focusing on different genres (fantasy,
realistic fiction, mystery, etc.). The scheduling of our guided lead teaching
coincided with the beginning of the fantasy unit.
Other than that, I was given freedom as to how I presented
it. My mentor teacher gave me suggestions of what some interns have done in the
past and also told me that I could come up with something entirely new. I
considered a number of things: reading a series of picturebooks and working
with each one individually on a daily basis, picking a chapter book to read and
have a comprehension packet it to go with it, work on a writing project where
the students create their own superhero, among other ideas. I chose to do an
author study on Chris Van Allsburg with the final project being student
produced fantasy stories based on illustrations from one of his works. It was
similar to one of my mentor’s previous intern’s work from a few years ago. More
recently, her interns focused their unit around one chapter book. It was nice
to know that I had a choice when coming up with my unit and that my mentor was
flexible and had experience with a variety of different units from previous
interns. I felt comfortable that she would be able to assist me, regardless of
which route I chose.
What was unproblematic and/or challenging about planning a
unit in this context?
While
I am glad I had a choice in selecting a unit, and would prefer it over being
“locked in” to a specific plan assigned to me, it was a little challenging to
me to determine the general sequence of my unit would be. Since I am more of a
math minded individual, it is easier for me to visualize a math unit where
students need to be at the end of the unit and the general outline of how to
get there. With so much choice in my language arts unit, and due to the fact
that I was not as comfortable assessing students’ literacy strengths and needs,
it was a little hard to decide on a focus that would benefit the whole class. I
was a little more comfortable when
I realized that, during their first genre study, the students were introduced
to all of the core practices so I whichever one I would choose to focus on, it
would be building on what they have already learned.
What obstacles did you face? How did you overcome them? Consider issues that may relate to
developing your professional identity, developing strong teacher-student
relationships, constructing relevant curriculum, or assessing students in
meaningful and productive ways.
My
reoccurring obstacle that I face during my internship year is classroom
management. While it is expected since I am “just the intern,” I find it
frustrating that the class more likely to follow my directions than they do
with my mentor teachers (even when we have similar expectations, like
independent writing time). I feel like a lot of time is lost on some days when
I have to keep remind the students of the classroom expectations.
What
is helpful in these situations is that my mentor teacher will be writing notes
in a journal as I am teaching my lesson. While the feedback is not
instantaneous, and may not help me during that lesson itself, I like to read
the journal at lunchtime (which is right after language arts time) while I have
a fresh recollection of what happened during the lesson. It is nice to see what
my mentor thought went well in my lesson and what I could try to make things go
a little smoother the next time. Her notes address all sorts of things, ranging
from how I modeled to how I dismissed tables, to how I dealt with a student who
was not following expectations, among other areas. It is encouraging to read
that she is providing thoughtful feedback on what she liked and how I could
tweak future lessons.
What enabled you to be successful?
I
am a huge fan of the notes that I just referenced in the question above. I
think it is an authentic form of feedback and helps me assess what changes I
can make as the unit progresses. I also thought modeling the writing pieces
helped me out, as well. It provided the students with an opportunity to
reference writing other than the books that we read as a class.
Did the unit proceed as you expected? Why or why not?
Other
than feeling rushed a couple of lessons due to whacky schedules and some minor
misbehavior problems, I thought that the unit went pretty close to as expected.
I think this was the case because the students enjoyed listening to the read
aloud selections I had made and a lot of them were enthused to do their own
writing. They were given a solid three day block to write rough drafts, peer
conference, and publish their final draft.
What surprises or “aha moments” did you experience?
An
“aha moment” I had was when I modeled my own writing in response to a prompt
that I gave them. During their poetry unit, I was intrigued that my mentor
teacher included her own poetry as examples for the students to reference in
their poetry notebooks. My instincts told me that that was a good practice, but
I was not sure as to why that is exactly true. When I modeled my own little
narrative in a visualization piece, I could see how the students were
intrigued. As I asked them questions about “what do you think I mean right
here?”, they could have immediate confirmation from me, the author. I think
that showing my own writing to students enhances the experience of interpreting
the writing of an author like Van Allsburg,
What do you still need to learn about teaching in this
target area, about developing your 'core practice' and about teaching literacy
in general?
I
still need to find a way to be more comfortable with having a “vision” while
teaching literacy in general. While I feel that it is more enjoyable to teach
it than I previously had thought, I still solidify my approach to teaching
literacy. For me, the target areas and core practices of literacy are harder to
hold a concrete understanding than mathematical ideas. I think with continual
observation and reflection, I will be able to develop my ability in literacy
teaching.
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