Monday, September 24, 2012
Friday catch-up
My weekend ended up being pretty busy and I realized I forgot to write anything for Friday. My first four weeks of student teaching have gone well. I am learning so many new things every time I teach a lesson and it is nice to feel like I am making progresses with my teaching skills. One thing that was interesting about last week is that we had a substitute teacher for half of the day on Thursday. He was an older man and I found out that he has actually never been a teacher. I thought in the Minneapolis school district you needed to be licensed to be a reserve teacher, but I guess I was wrong. The reserve teacher wanted to teach most of the lessons that afternoon so I was mostly observing. The day did not go so well, but it was interesting to see the difference between an experienced licensed teacher and a non-licensed teacher. I think teaching really is a misunderstood profession and people do not realize that it takes a lot of education and experience to be an effective teacher. Most of the time not just anyone with a bachelors degree is able to lead a group of 35 students through math, social studies, and reading. It also gave me some things to think about from a reserve teacher's prospective. While I am substitute teaching it is going to be difficult to go into an unfamiliar classroom and teach the students. I felt for him in that respect because he did not know the students or their routines like I did. The day was somewhat frustrating, but I think it was a good experience.
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ReplyDeleteWhat was Jane's reaction to Thursday's "not so hot" afternoon with the substitute teacher? I'm also surprised that they hired a non-licensed (not to mention inexperienced) teacher--there has to be a HUGE pool of licensed teachers on the reserve list in your district. In fact, I remember working with a student teacher at LHUC last year who, at the end of her student teaching experience, was applying to be a reserve teacher. She said the application process was complicated and time-consuming. What you've described is a mystery. Maybe you'll get the scoop from talking with Jane and let us know :-)
ReplyDeleteBottom line: I can imagine your frustration at watching the day fall apart while the sub insisted on teaching by himself. You were actually the expert that afternoon, but you were a wasted resource. Sigh.