Today, It hit. My first observation. Originally, it was scheduled for Thursday, and I felt confident that Mrs. Manning and I would have no problem sifting through all the pre-requisite paperwork on Monday and Tuesday, and that I would have it all ready to turn in to Dr. G sometime Tuesday evening (pre-observation paperwork must be turned in at least two days prior). No big deal.
And then I realized that there would be testing each morning this week and that there would be no 3rd period class on Tuesday for Dr. G to observe. So, on Sunday I contacted her, and she informed me that the only other option would be Tuesday, and that I needed to get the paperwork turned in ASAP. As I began trying to fill forms that have long and very official state-sanctioned names, I soon realized that I had been wading near the shore, ventured towards the middle of the river, and summarily stepped off into a sink hole....and the current.
It was at that point that I, more than somewhat bewildered, called my supervising teacher. Although she herself has not had to work through the same forms as I, she was quite helpful. Helpful and patient. We were able to work through the A-1 and a good portion of the A-2 lesson plan (we had already discussed it quite a bit throughout the previous week); however, there were documents and PowerPoints we were planning to use that were at school, so I couldn't finish until the next morning. Concerned that the problem we encountered would affect the observation, I sent an email to Dr. G explaining the situation, and she replied and said I needed to get them to her ASAP on Monday.
So, Monday. I was able to finish the lesson plan in the morning, and I sent it to Dr. G for her approval; when I received it back from her, it turned out that she had torn it to shreds. Apparently I had left out a good amount of necessary information and had included a decent bit that wasn't needed. Due to the hour at which I received the email from her, I couldn't work on revisions until the morning.
And Today. Tuesday. By the grace of God, testing was going on all morning, and since student teachers are(per state edict) barred from the classroom during testing, I spent the better part of the morning sitting in the hallway in a desk on a laptop revising my unfortunately deficient KTIP lesson plan. Again, by the grace of God, I was able to finish it to the best of my knowledge and ability during the two hours of testing. And then at lunch I was able to attend to a couple of last minute details, print all the different forms and documents I had, paperclip them, stack them, and place them neatly on the sign-in desk at the front office for Dr. G's arrival.
As the afternoon progressed, my nervousness increased. Although I feel comfortable in the classroom and always have since my first days teaching ESL at Cumberland, I had never been officially observed and evaluated. Scary, right? And in the classroom today were Mrs. Manning, Dr. G, and a substitute teacher (Mrs. Manning had to leave in the middle of class to take her infant son to the doctor). The need for a substitute teacher really threw me off. Apparently the State says that a student teacher cannot substitute; so, even though Mrs. Manning only missed the last 15 minutes of class, they had to have a sub. The thing that baffles me is that although I have a bachelor's degree, have completed all the classes for a master's degree (save Student Teaching), and have been fully qualified to be hired as a fulltime teacher since I began my graduate degree two years ago, I can't be in the classroom for 15 minutes without a substitute -- a substitute who has less education than I do and possibly has never even taken an education class. Of course, I wouldn't refuse to comply even if that were an option; I submit to the policies the school must uphold; however, I don't understand the reason(s) behind them. But I digress.
As the 9th graders began filtering into class, I already had the bell-ringer projected on the Smartboard, and I began walking around the room learning the students' names (yesterday was my first day with that class). The bell-ringer (which happened to be a Daily Oral Language exercise -- a sentence with missing punctuation and capital letters and errors in syntax and parts of speech) went smoothly. Some prompting was needed, but they did a satisfactory job fixing the sentence.
Next, I asked for a student to volunteer to come to the board to be the scribe as the class reviewed different forms of irony. Again, the class answered well. After that I had prepared a pre-reading journal entry for them, but I forgot; it completely left my mind, and I jumped into introducing the story, which happened to be "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry. And then I plowed right into to reading the story as a class. Soon, I realized my mistake, but it was too late. I couldn't go back. My omission did nothing calm my already bristling nerves. What would Dr. G say? She had my lesson plan right in front of her, and very clearly indicated pre-reading journaling sandwiched between review of irony and story introduction.
My lackluster memory notwithstanding, the reading went well. Some of the observations students made as we read pleasantly surprised me. One student commented that John Dillingham Young's middle name fading on his mailbox is an ironic symbol of his eroding social standing and economic security. I don't remember her exact words, but that's the gist of her comment -- and from a freshman! I have been worried about the need for me to possibly tone down some of the critical aspects of literature and language; however, her response, in addition others, suggests that they can handle more than I initially anticipated.
At the end of the period, I confessed to the class my mistake. I apologized and gave no excuses for myself, but I suppose I managed to have a positive and humorous approach to my own failings, so they seemed to be amused by it. I was glad for their response. After the students had gone, I headed sheepishly to the back corner desk where Dr. G had set up shop for the period. To my surprise and comfort, she was very understanding about my missing part of the lesson plan. And she was encouraging and helpful overall. We reviewed her notes and assessment thus far of rubrics I have to fulfill, and she offered praise as well as constructive and specific criticism of some aspects of my teaching that need work: areas such as assessment, and engendering more student-centered instruction. In addition, she walked me through some trouble areas of the KTIP lesson plan I completed, and I now feel much less in the dark about requirements and expectations.
That said, my only regret is that there was no way for me sit down with her (or be in a real classroom with her) to talk about the KTIP before it was due and before I had to teach from it. There are, of course, notes and exemplars on the class website; however, I learn significantly more through in-person interaction, whether individually or in a group. I find it a terrible shame that UC only offers the MAT online. The interaction I have had with my professors in person has been nothing less than excellent. I also find it ironic that in a time when designing instruction to accommodate for multiple intelligences has never been greater, that classes addressing the subject by their very nature alienate and limit those who thrive on personal interaction.
But today, I got to spend some time with Dr. G, and I believe I will teach more effectively because of it.
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