Lessons in Teaching

Beginning Week Three of student teaching with Bronchitis. I need spring break! (4 days…)

3rd Grader to Me: “Are you OK?!”

Me: “Yeah, I’m doing great. Why do you ask? Do I not look OK?”

3rd Grader: “No, you look fine, but some people hide their emotions. Especially teachers.”

(Source: storiesofastudentteacher)

“You can’t test what sort of teacher someone will be, because testing what someone knows isn’t the same as what someone is able to share.” -Esme Raji Codell, “Educating Esme”

I just registered for my 7th, 8th, and 9th standardized teacher tests.  When all is said and done (assuming I pass them all the first time around), I’ll have spent 22 hours and $800 dollars on standardized testing.  

At the same time, I’ll never be formally observed, and have been told by my credentialing program to not pay too much attention to the paperwork, since nobody ever actually sees it unless the program gets formally audited (highly unlikely).

So my becoming an elementary teacher depends almost solely on standardized tests that mostly judge my trivial knowledge (true sample questions: “It is humid in a Cincinnati.  A high pressure system will move through the city.  What will the weather be like tomorrow?” and “Which best describes the fall of the Roman empire?”).  Do they look at how well I address the social and emotional wellbeing of children?  Deliver content?  Plan lessons and units?  No.

The “accountability” movement and its high-stakes standardized tests have recently received a lot of negative attention.  Maybe the teacher credentialing process deserves the same scrutiny.  We “train” teachers by forcing them to undergo numerous high-stakes standardized tests and judge them solely by their performance on these tests.  Sound familiar?

Grad school, that is.

Everyone has a story of how they decided to teach:  I went into college thinking I wanted to go into politics (and have a Political Science degree to show for it).  But then during orientation week I attended a departments fair and saw the Education department’s table.  I have no clear recollection of what they said, but I remember walking out of there with the realization that I would become a teacher.  I immediately called my parents and they thought I was a little crazy, but I’ve never questioned my decision.

I attend a small liberal arts college, and the teaching program really seems like an afterthought.  Myself included, there are four people in this year’s elementary ed program (10x that number go into TFA every year).  My main professor is part-time, and all the other professors are full-time teachers who come in for a few weeks of lectures.  While my college is “prestigious,” the teaching program is, in my opinion, really lacking.  I honestly don’t think I’ve learned much of anything from the courses I’ve taken.  A typical class meeting goes like this:  spend 20 minutes waiting for the late professor, listen to a picture book, talk about one 2-page article, spend an hour building a bridge out of straws (no, really).  

A few of my teacher-to-be friends just got accepted to really amazing masters credential programs this week (ie Stanford and Brown).  Quite honestly, I’m jealous.  Besides knowing what they’ll be doing next year, they’re in for amazing teacher preparation.  

I decided to do my school’s credential program because it meant that I could graduate with a teaching degree without spending any additional time or money.  But now I wonder: am I really being prepared to teach?   Would I have been better prepared by attending a masters program?  Can schools of education—even really impressive ones—adequately prepare teachers?

I was looking online at teaching positions in my area, and one school requires applicants to write an essay on, “What does America mean to you?”

At least it’s original…