Advice to University Supervisors and Cooperating Teachers

Chapter One: Getting Started Early

Teachers constantly refer to the first days of school as the most important days of the year. They set the tone for classroom management, expectations, and relationships. There is even a book written just about those first days. Just as it is crucial for the students and the teachers, it is important that student teachers get the experience of these first days with their mentors. Getting the student teachers involved as soon as possible can be extremely valuable for all parties involved. Get in touch over the summer. Invite them to the first inservice. Get them ideas for lessons and units they could be involved with.

Chapter Two: Setting Clear Expectations

The student teaching experience is different for everyone. No two are exactly alike. While there are different personalities and teaching styles in every classroom, university supervisors need to ensure that all student teachers have the same QUALITY of experience. Questions that can be addressed to cooperating teachers: What are the roles of the student teacher? When should they show up daily? What are the boundaries? Is there space provided for them? Have you set deadlines for them?

Chapter Three: Mentoring the Mentors on Mentoring

The first year of teaching is extremely overwhelming. Student teaching was designed by universities to adequately prepare students for this first year and ease that anxiety. Student teachers need proper training before becoming teachers. Cooperating teachers should also have to receive the training to enter into the extremely important role of mentor.

Chapter Four: Building Relationships

Positive relationships foster positive experiences. Cooperative teachers and university supervisors need to be willing to put forth the extra effort to build these positive relationships. With these relationships, CTs and supervisors will be able to cater the student teaching experience to each student teacher’s individual and unique needs.

Chapter Five: Constructing Constructive Feedback  

Once positive relationships are built, it is easier to give and receive constructive feedback. But what constitutes “constructive” feedback? It exists both formally and informally and enables CTS and supervisors to mold student teachers and help them grow into effective educators. CTs should be willing to give feedback often and willing to spend extra time to critique lesson plans and activities. Supervisors should set explicit goals. What are specifics that student teachers need to be focusing on? What steps can be taken to make improvements? How can we make this the most valuable for the students?

I am more than.... a microaggression

After getting back all of my freshmen's "Seeing Through Stereotypes" assignments, I decided to share some of their work with you. In my previous post, I discussed the assignment briefly, but here is how this part of the unit was set up.

Day 1: We studied and practiced evidence-based writing, by looking at quotes that pertained to microaggressions. This was a light introduction to microaggressions (definitions,etc).

Day 2: We read the article "Microaggressions in Everyday Life" by Dr. Derald Wing Sue. Students marked the text for examples of microaggressions and put stars next to the categories that pertained to them the most. We discussed the categories of microagrressions and how they exist in everyone's lives. This got them thinking about how these exist in their daily lives.


Day 3: We did a gallery walk of the images presented in the Harvard photo campaign "I, Too, Am Harvard," a collection of images created by African-American Harvard students who have felt the pangs of stereotypes.

Here are some examples:

I had them do a gallery walk with notecards. They had to pick out three to analyze. They identified what was on the board, the stereotype that was being addressed, and reflect on how it made them feel. I noticed it was taking longer than I anticipated, so I asked a couple of students why they were still up and walking. I was so happy to hear, "Miss, these are really cool, I just wanted to look at them all." So I ended up alotting more time so that they could take in as much as they wanted. I then did a mix pair share, and had the partners swap cards. In the end, they put all three cards they had (all from different students) in their interactive notebooks.

Day 4: I challenged students to create their own messages. They had to write their microaggression on a board, modeling the I, Too, Am Harvard campaign, and take a picture. They then filled out a worksheet I created called, "Seeing Through Stereotypes" to discuss the impact it had on them and then finally connect it to the experience John Howard Griffin had in Black Like Me.

Here are some examples:

I was just as impressed with their messages as I was with the assignment that went with it. Since doing this activity, students have been able to make stronger connections with the text, as they realize that oppression still exists in society today, and that it impacts them and those around them. Some of the most profound reflections included statements where students not only realized they were stereotyped, but realized that the things they say, even unintentionally, can impact others.

Teaching Tolerance - Post 3

After looking through the sea of information provided on the Teaching Tolerance website, I came upon an edition of their Teaching Tolerance magazine, focused on civil rights. I began to reflect on my methods for teaching tolerance in the classroom. How have I encouraged my students to see past the stereotypes that society has ingrained in them? How have I created an environment where students feel comfortable talking about how discrimination not only existed in the past, but how it applies to their lives?

I immediately thought of my most recent activity I did with my students. In the previous classes we had defined microaggressions and looked at how they existed in the book, Black Like Me. As we learned, microaggressions are statements that may not have been intended to be offensive, but indeed are discriminatory based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, hair color, disability, etc. We read an article, “Microaggressions in Everyday Life,” to further extend their learning and understanding of the topic, but I wanted to take it to the next step. I wanted to make it personal.

In the article “Not From Around Here,” Carrie Kilman discusses what teachers can do to incorporate the discussions of stereotypes in the classroom. Kilman suggests that teachers must, “encourage students to examine their own biases every time they crop up.” By doing this, Kilman suggests that students will become aware of how discrimination impacts them and those around them on a daily basis.

After having my students look at microaggressions in the book, I challenged them to look at how these stereotypes have occurred in their lives. We looked at a photo campaign from African American Harvard students. In the photos, students wrote either messages that have offended them or responses to insulting comments they have heard. My students were asked to model their own photos after these. The result was powerful. Students shared their stories and their own experiences of discrimination. Multiple students shared with me that they spent hours on this assignment because it sparked a conversation with family members.

As I began this unit, I was concerned that students would not be accepting of the ideas and the content we would be covering. Just as they have in many other cases, they surprised me. Not only did they learn from this experience, but they also taught me so much about their lives. What is important is extending this into their everyday lives. How do we get students to take these personal experiences and grow and learn from them? How do we inspire our students to continue to learn about others and their perspectives?

Blog Post 2 - Letting Go and Empowering Students

             One of the biggest struggles I have encountered this student teaching semester has been finding the balance between having too much control and doing two much work and letting go of two much control and doing too little.

Jumping into student teaching, I wanted to do whatever I could to make sure my students would succeed and all get A’s in my class, especially during my unit. I was devastated when I received only five found poems for our first assignment. I sat there racking my brain trying to figure out what I did wrong. Did I not explain the assignment well enough? Did my students not get it? Was the assignment too hard? After talking to my CT, we came up with scaffolding and ideas to make the explanation of assignments better. Robyn Jackson says in “Never Work Harder Than Your Students,” teachers in this situation often default to compensating for students lack of responsibility by taking complete control. I was determined not to do this, and I had a great mentor by my side to help ensure I would not fall into this trap.

  Later in the semester, I was receiving the same missed questions on the learning logs. Students were not making connections to the themes in the text. Instead, they were explaining the quote. I noticed that on the learning log, it asked them how the motifs and symbols supported the theme, but not to identify the specific theme. I immediately changed the learning logs to reflect what I wanted from students. The next class I had students work collaboratively to look over their past graded learning logs. They discussed the most commonly missed sections and comments that were made by me. They then used this information to complete their next learning logs together. The result was learning logs that were complete and met all of my objectives.

Jackson’s article hits this point as well. Instead of me lecturing about what I wanted from students, I did my part and let students do theirs as well. As opposed to one group being in control, I transformed my classroom into “a community of learners.” It was extremely important that I worked with my students, not for my students. Jackson states, “Our job is to help our students find their own voices and develop their own understanding of the subject matter.” By giving students their own voices, and control of their learning, they were able to not only learn from their past mistakes, but work as a community to meet the learning objectives.

I can’t pretend that student teaching has been a breeze. I have made plenty of mistakes. But those mistakes, just like the mistakes of my students, have fueled my learning. They have enabled me to come up with solutions that work for me, and work for my students. They have forced me to be reflective and think critically. I know even when I enter my first year of teaching, I will continue to make mistakes. But those mistakes, as I use them to grow, will make me a better teacher and a better learner.

The Rock - Post #1

Bad things are going to happen

You will wake up late,

your car won’t start.

Someone will try to make 477 copies

Of an assignment they don’t need

until Wednesday,

Causing the copy machine to stop

every three pages, so you can look

for a jam that doesn’t exist.

Twenty-two students will choose your class

To go down to the auditorium to take their picture retakes.

You will spend hours meticulously pouring over

Every activity, handout, and Powerpoint,

But you will still use the wrong there.

All but one student

Will forget about the homework you assigned.

You CT will be out with the flu,

But she’s got you covered - she called in a sub.

That sub will go get coffee

At Starbucks, and wont return for another 45 minutes.

You’ll create a Powerpoint

But forget to use it until after the class has ended.

You’ll spend hours making thoughtful comments

On each assignment,

Your dog will feast on every fragment.

There is a Nigerian folktale about a turtle.

The turtle, being hunted by a hippopotamus and an elephant,

Was doomed to become dinner.

As he tried so stealthily to sneak away,

He felt a rock lodged between him and his shell.

He retreated to retrieve it.

It took hours to dislodge.

As he returned to meet his match,

He was alone in a sea of like-sized rocks.

So here’s the deal, the skinny, the scoop,

You will forget your lunch and

Be forced to eat the cafeteria’s mush.

You’ll loose your hair, your phone will get stolen,

You’ll be mistaken for a student,

you’ll forget to set your alarm.

Open your eyes, pick up a rock,

And admire the conjunction

Where the smooth edges meet its sharp point.