Mentor Teacher/ Teacher Candidate Meeting

On Tuesday we had the opportunity to meet with teacher candidates to meet and discuss their experiences in the classroom. It was a great conversation, with many insights into their experiences and how we can best support them. Candidates shared their experiences with inquiry based learning. They reflected on how it has taken them several weeks to understand how and why inquiry happens. They were amazed to see how a simple read aloud could evolve into so many learning opportunities with children writing, discussing, asking questions and exploring various math concepts. One mentor teacher uses think alouds with her classes and the teacher candidate found this to be a valuable We discussed the value in asking their mentor teacher questions and seeking out resources such as, monologues. We also discussed how time for teacher candidates and mentor teachers to talk and discuss classroom learning is really valuable. We ended by asking what we could do to continue to support their learning. They expressed wanting resources to be able to read such as, Peel monographs as well as Ministry monographs. We also suggested they start Twitter accounts as it opens teachers to classrooms, researchers, and offers valuable professional development. Both parties felt that this meeting was a worthwhile leaning experience and wanted to meet regularly to talk and ask questions.