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So yesterday my professor called me and told me to pack up my things, my practicum was over. Now I had had a rocky experience, but just last week I was told they were willing to extend me by a couple weeks to allow more time for progress. I know parents and students had started filing complaints which I think was the final nail in the coffin. There will be a meeting with the people who run my postbac program to determine what the next steps should be, if allowed to continue at all.
I did enjoy teaching but I am trying to re-evaluate whether it's even worth it to try to continue or go do something else. Teaching has been the most physically and emotionally taxing thing I've ever undertaken.
It usually takes a pretty significant issue to pull someone from practicum. It's probably time to really reflect on what those issues were, and if it makes sense to continue in pursuit of this particular goal, if offered the chance.
Did you already receive your teaching degree? And do you want to keep pursuing this as a profession? What age group were you teaching? I am sorry this happened. Just trying to think if there might be other options for you to teach in a different area.
Last edited by tassity22; 04-04-2017 at 12:09 PM..
First of all, if you haven't already done so, you should have a long talk with your professor and sponsor teacher for their advice. I'm sure they've seen it all.
Makes me think back to my practicum in 1972. I was having a great experience student-teaching science. But meanwhile, another student teacher who had the same kids for English was drowning. One day I suggested that I could come into observe and maybe make a few suggestions. It was worse than I expected. 7th graders were literally jumping from the top of one student desk to another, and all sorts of mayhem, and they were totally disrespectful to the student teacher. I think it all got started because he was from New Jersey, and the first day in the class he introduced himself as being from "New Joisey" (he had that kind of accent). The kids went hysterical. So at the end of the day, he and I were going to meet. He never showed up. In fact, walked out of the building never to return. Frankly, what I was going to suggest to him was to give it up, and maybe look into teaching at a community college or something like that. The next day I kept a couple of the kids after school to ask them why they were so mean to the other student teacher. One of the kids looked me straight in the eye and said, "It's our job to weed out the weak ones".
I think there are 2 key questions to be asked.
First, is it fixable? I was fortunate to be in a top-notch middle school. We were sort of the opposite of the song "New York, New York" -- if you couldn't make it there, you couldn't make it anywhere. When I was the vice principal, our principal was a former English teacher, and known to be at the top of her profession as both an English teacher and principal. One year we hired a first year teacher in English from...well, let's just say a nearby, very rural state. She had actually been the student teacher of the year in that state. I have never seen a first year teacher drowning so early, so fast. We all know how mean kids can be, and they latched on to her looks (frumpiest young woman I ever saw, but incredibly kind to others) and that hint of "hillbillieness". First we got the English department chair in to help her. It didn't help. Then the principal started meeting with her after school and helping her develop lesson plans, and then the principal would actually go in and teach the first period class while the first year teacher observed. So, the first year teacher only had to "copy" what the principal was doing for the rest of the day. Still no improvement. Still a disaster. Then we had a coach come in from the central office. Well, that didn't help either. It was a no-win game. It was not fixable. We had to counsel her out of the profession. So that is a key question: is it fixible?
The second key question is: is it worth it? It sounds as if it's going to be a lot of long, hard work. How likely is it to succeed, and is it worth the work and effort? Or is another profession a better option, inside or outside of education?
And there is a third key question: What will the "black eye" of being pulled from student teaching do to your likelihood of being hired? I assume that somehow that's going to show up in your record.
I'll paraphrase TabulaRasa and say that it's time for some deep soul-searching.
Whatever you decide, best of luck in changing directions.
For perspective, I had a really personally unpleasant student teaching experience. So much so that I willingly chose to work in other fields for a full decade after receiving my degree and teaching credentials. It left a really horrible taste in my mouth and soured me to the field.
Despite that, I completed my student teaching, received full credit, decent evaluations in my portfolio, and was never removed, threatened with removal, or, had it suggested that I discontinue seeking certification. I didn't enjoy it, but I completed it.
OP, while I'm not keen on recommending teaching to anyone with other options these days, if it's really what you want to do, do not give up. I had a student teaching experience straight out of a dystopian horror novel. The students were out of control, the staff was out of control, and I suffered the fallout. I got no support whatsoever. Nine weeks into my student teaching, my assignments were revoked and I was given menial tasks for the last few weeks.
I was told by my advisor that I could not be a teacher. I was in a deep depression for a long time. But, the cabal gave me a "C-", I received my teaching certificate, and did whatever I could. I started subbing. I worked an after school program. I introduced myself to everyone I came across. And while I didn't get a job in the districts I subbed in, I finally got a full-time job in another district. Sixteen years later I'm still there.
Get yourself together. Once you get that certificate, start plugging away. You may be down, but you're not out.
So yesterday my professor called me and told me to pack up my things, my practicum was over. Now I had had a rocky experience, but just last week I was told they were willing to extend me by a couple weeks to allow more time for progress. I know parents and students had started filing complaints which I think was the final nail in the coffin. There will be a meeting with the people who run my postbac program to determine what the next steps should be, if allowed to continue at all.
I did enjoy teaching but I am trying to re-evaluate whether it's even worth it to try to continue or go do something else. Teaching has been the most physically and emotionally taxing thing I've ever undertaken.
Any advice?
This happens more than most teachers realize. It is not necessarily the kiss of death but it is definitely a call for some serious self-evaluation.
When you meet with your committee they are going to propose one of three things: a) placing you on probation and offering an alternate placement next year, b) give you an incomplete or have you withdraw from student teaching and help you find a different program to get your degree with no certification, or c) fail you and send you on your way. Outcome A is, of course the best, if you would still like to become a teacher. Part of what determines which of the other responses in the event that doesn't happen is the level of program, they are more likely to look for ways to graduate the person at the undergrad level. Many programs try to give you a second chance, especially if they think some of what led to your failure were things beyond your total control to fix, chief among them a rotten relationship with your mentor/supervising teacher or university supervisor.
Which leads to.....
1. What level were you doing student teaching? Subject?
2. What type of relationship did you have with your mentor teacher? What type of feedback were you getting from this person?
3. What type of relationship did you have with your university supervisor (liaison, mentor, evaluator, whatever title your program uses)? What type of feedback were you getting from this person?
4. Did you have any interaction with the school administration? If so, what was the nature of it? What was the general feeling of how you thought it went?
5. You say students and parents made complaints, what in general were those complaints about? How legitimate do you perceive those complaints and why?
6. You say you liked student teaching, what did you like about it?
7. Why do you think they want to remove you from student teaching?
8. What made you decide to get your certification?
Other than a slightly different first question this is the information I would want to know in trying to decided whether to give the student teacher a second chance or not. They'll certainly want you to explain to them what you would do differently to avoid the same problem next time.
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OP, while I'm not keen on recommending teaching to anyone with other options these days, if it's really what you want to do, do not give up. I had a student teaching experience straight out of a dystopian horror novel. The students were out of control, the staff was out of control, and I suffered the fallout. I got no support whatsoever. Nine weeks into my student teaching, my assignments were revoked and I was given menial tasks for the last few weeks.
I was told by my advisor that I could not be a teacher. I was in a deep depression for a long time. But, the cabal gave me a "C-", I received my teaching certificate, and did whatever I could. I started subbing. I worked an after school program. I introduced myself to everyone I cane across. And while I didn't get a job in the districts I subbed in, I finally got a full-time job in another district. Sixteen years later I'm still there.
Get yourself together. Once you get that certificate, start plugging away. You may be down, but you're not out.
The issue is that, by virtue of being pulled from completing student teaching practicum, certification is unlikely (at least, without repeating practicum, if that's even an option).
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