What to Expect on your First Day...

     So I waited a few weeks to write this so that I could be sure that I had an understanding of what to expect, and I am really glad that I have.
Today I went to my second school where I was doing practicum, and it really opened my eyes to the difference in teachers and how they react to students doing observations in their classrooms.

     I had an amazing experience with my first practicum teacher, he was open to me starting right away in his class, on my first day he told me that if I wanted to teach a lesson at any point to just let him know, and he continues to give me random little tips that he thinks of while teaching. In his class, I participate in the teaching, even if it is just something as simple as collecting the papers, reading the text out loud, and writing things on the board. It still gives me the exposure to being in front of the classroom. I have really enjoyed being in his classroom because he teaches two grades in his first and second hours, which allows for me to see the difference in the classroom behavior and the relationship between teacher and student in the different grade levels. Additionally, he lets me sit in the front of the class, so I am seeing the students reactions to his teaching styles, and I can have the perspective of a teacher, rather than that of a student.

     Today I went to a different teacher, and the difference was almost shocking.
   
     Keep in mind, both of these schools are Title 1, and they are only about a 20 minute drive away from each other.

     The teacher at the second school showed up late, almost five minutes after the bell. She made the excuse of really bad traffic, and I would have just nodded and agreed if the students hadn't been commenting on how she is always late while we waited for her. I went to introduce myself to her, and she instantly said, "Oh, you're an observation student, you can sit in the back of the room."

     She didn't point out a specific chair or anything, so I chose the least intrusive one which was against the back wall between two tables. She went on to teach the class like normal, like I wasn't even there. There was no introduction, no copy of the handouts that she was passing around, no helpful tips of the trade.

     Then her team-teacher walked in. Halfway through the second period. She didn't see me in the back, so she was surprised when the first teacher pointed me out saying "We have an observer."
That teacher instantly got excited and said that she would let me grade papers, which I was excited about because the two classes were exactly the same, so I had been sitting in the second period just watching, because all of the notes were already taken.

     The first teacher then proceeded to argue with her about what I was there for.
-Not for grading papers
-It's a good learning experience, to see what she'll be in for.
-Not for imputing grades
-She'll need to do it eventually
-Not for teaching a lesson
-She is going to school to be a teacher right?

     I just decided to leave it, and I went back to my seat. The second teacher eventually brought my a small stack of papers to grade, and I had some fun doing that but it didn't have the same amount of excitement.

     I think that the point I am trying to make is that you're not only going to have great teachers to watch, and you're not only going to have terrible ones. What I took from this experience was that if you find a teacher that you like, keep that teacher in mind so that when you need to do practicum in the future, you already have someone that you like. If you find a teacher that you don't like, keep them in mind as well. Keep them in mind so that you know the type of teacher that you do not like.

     I think that it is important to know the type of teacher that you like and don't like so you can decide on the type of teacher that you want to be.

I hope that this helped you, and that it puts things into perspective for you.

Until next time,
Marisa