After the Mentor-teacher / Teacher-candidate meeting on November 3, 2016, lead by Monica Chadha and Mrs. Gelinas, I reflected upon my interaction with my Mentor Teacher (MT). I started to think, what does my MT do to help me see things from a teacher's point of view? How does she help develop my thinking in becoming a teacher?
After having read over the notes I have taken during my observation during my placement here at Eldorado Public School, I learnt that my Mentor Teachers' think-aloud strategy helped me most. It changed my perspective on how the teacher teaches, why a certain activity is done a certain way, why a certain activity is used in class as well as how is that activity purposeful to the students. To answer all my questions, my Mentor Teacher decided to debrief me about her schedule for that day. Every morning before going into class, my MT and I would have a conversation where she would explain to me which activities she will be doing during the day, and what the reasons are behind each of them. When interacting with her prior to observing the activities being done with the students, I realised all the logic that was behind all the thinking of my MT's mind when she was planning the activities. I also had a better understanding on how those specific activities would benefit and better a child's learning in the Full Day Kindergarten classroom.
She also demonstrated the different types of progress students make by comparing a Junior Kindergarten student and a Senior Kindergarten student. For example, she brought a JK student to a table and did a numeracy activity with them. She then explained to me in "teacher language" why that student did what she did, and what the child has demonstrated knowledge of. She also explained to me that based on what I had just observed, these are what the next steps would be for that student and how to improve and achieve her goal for her level. My MT then brought an SK student to the table and did the same activity with them. In the end, she explained what was being compared to the two. The result was that the SK student was the model of what the JK students' goals are to learn at the end of the semester.
In our first year education classes in university, we learn the hard way that the Ontario's Curriculum is written with big complex words, that we, as beginner teachers, are not yet familiar with. This was a great 'live visualization' that gave me hands-on experience of what the students are capable of doing at what age, and what the need to improve upon, to better understand what we read in the Ontario's education curriculum.
I would like to add that I have been blessed to be given the opportunity to work along my Mentor Teacher as I have learnt a lot of beneficial things that I will carry with me throughout my career as a teacher. Definitely so much more than I ever anticipated after being with her for only three months. I am so excited to continue learning from my Mentor Teacher as I am more confident than ever that I will become a better teacher in the future thanks to her.
Dear all other student teachers, how did your Mentor Teacher help you prepare for your career as a beginner teacher?
Hi Tasneem,
ReplyDeleteI want to answer your closing question by talking a little bit about my experience in Mrs. Chadha's grade 6 class over the last few months. Mrs. Chadha immediately changed the way I see the teacher-student dynamic due to her application of inquiry-based learning. Before coming to Eldorado, I had assumed that teachers speak and students listen because not only is that how my own classes were structured as a student, but also because other teachers I had worked with adopted this pedagogical structure. Mrs. Chadha, however, employs a much more organic, effective pedagogical dynamic whereby students drive the conversation based on what they genuinely find interesting. For example, if a student asks a question about a particular math problem or equation, Mrs. Chadha will encourage them (and their classmates) to follow this line of inquiry until they reach a solution. Often, she will not know where the conversation will lead beforehand, but nonetheless it is always an effective strategy because students drive the content in a direction they find interesting.
This dynamic is not limited to math, however. Mrs. Chadha related a classroom conversation to me about the Credit River and the characteristics of its biological diversity. She told me that the students steered the conversation towards how the river was formed and how it was used by early settlers, a component of the river's history that she did not necessarily expect to encounter beforehand. I used to love the show, "Kids Say the Darndest Things" because I found it fascinating how young children could pick up on concepts or perspectives that adults could not. In the classroom, students still say "the darndest things," but they are genuine, informative, and provide new perspectives that are effective because they are genuinely curious about the content they generate.
"Live visualization" is an interesting term, Tasneem! I think meaningful observation should be just that. Reel-life, authentic experiences in the classrooms that make you think about which strategies work, how they work and why they work. "Think Alouds" is a very effective strategy not just in KG but even in other grades. I use think-alouds to model my thinking all the time in Grade 6. My students use thought bubbles to make their thinking visible as they are working on a problem. In its true sense, a think aloud is a meta cognitive strategy that empowers learners to monitor their own thinking and notice it throughout the process of learning. As learners and teachers think "aloud", they give a voice to their thoughts.
ReplyDeleteAnother comment I thought was very thought-provoking in your blog is about how the Senior KG student demonstrates learning that is the goal for Junior KG. KG is unique in this way. Students become learning goals for other students.
How do you see yourself using what you are learning in KG in other grades? Do you think that the strategies your Mentor Teachers use can be used in older grades. If, yes, how? If no, why not?
Daniel, your comment about "students driving the learning" is the most important component of any inquiry-based program. In an inquiry-based classroom, we are not just learning to teach, we are also teaching to learn. The role of the teacher is of a facilitator, one who facilitates learning. I completely agree with you that students' genuine curiosity provides new perspectives that may not have been evident to us. We have to be flexible and responsive to this curiosity.
ReplyDeleteHow do you think we can do both- addressing the curriculum expectations in meaningful ways and letting students generate a curriculum that is meaningful to them?