Pulled from student teaching (activity, master's, school, grade)
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The students felt that they weren't learning and were always bored. Most of them bombed the second trimester final (US History). With the new trimester I tried to have more discussion-based lessons rather than deluging the students with documents for analysis every single day. Many students complained to me that they wanted a more lecture-based class, but that is a HUGE no-no in education now. Every lesson must be fun and engaging. Sorry but that is not realistic.
My classes were close to 30 kids in size which is an issue all by itself, and literally half of them had IEPs, 504s and behavioral issues. Most of them should not have been in a regular classroom. I know as a teacher one must be prepared to deal with these issues, but it is IMPOSSIBLE to accommodate every single IEP and 504 plan. Every teacher cannot be a special ed teacher, yet that is what they expect. While most of the kids bombed the final exam, most of them were still well above the minimum passing trimester average. But what I noticed about the kids who failed the term was that they did not care. I would give them chances to make up work they did not do, and even after constant reminders most of it never got turned in. Yet their failure for the term was still blamed on me. Most of my kids wanted to learn, but my philosophy is if a student does not want or care to learn, there is no way to teach them to do so. If they fail for lack of trying, they've earned that F.
What you are describing is not uncommon, and I would think that any supervising teacher would know that. Lazy students + blame the teacher is one of the many reasons that I left teaching. Any time I tried to set higher standards, like expecting students to complete work (gasp) I was "expecting too much." Every school I went to in every state and at every grade level was the same.
I'm still not understanding why this would cause you to get pulled from student teaching. Something is off here.
Teaching sucks and anyone considering going into this "profession" should have their head examined. I'm 6 years in and have had just about enough.
Let me make one thing clear, there is little learning going on, teachers these days are nothing more than babysitters. Kids are there to socialize, they could care less about learning.
They only get diplomas because schools push them through, doing everything possible to get these kids to pass. My proof is that only 20-50% of students actually graduate from college within 5 years, depending on the type of college. Kids enter college ill-prepared from 4 wasted years of high school. So now they are expected to actually work, and of course, they will not put in the effort, drop out, and have amassed student debt with no diploma.
If that's what you're experiencing, fine, and you should get out for your benefit, as well as the students' benefit. But I never felt that way, and although I'm retired, I am still in touch with many of my ex-colleagues who are still working, and still enjoying the profession. There are good schools and good school systems out there.
There are many reasons the unpleasantness can outweigh the rewards of teaching, for many. It's up to the individual to decide if the pros/cons columns aren't in favorable enough balance for them.
My husband and I are both former educators, and were discussing exactly this last night. Philosophically loving the ideals of educating, and, in practice, finding the day-to-day of teaching highly rewarding, rewarding enough to make up for numerous frustrations and challenges and flat-out inequities, are two very different things.
Every teacher, even struggling ones, have those "This is why I do this!" moments that keep them shored up. For some, reinforcement on that variable a schedule is sufficient. For others, those moments alone aren't enough to offset the struggles.
There are many reasons the unpleasantness can outweigh the rewards of teaching, for many. It's up to the individual to decide if the pros/cons columns aren't in favorable enough balance for them.
My husband and I are both former educators, and were discussing exactly this last night. Philosophically loving the ideals of educating, and, in practice, finding the day-to-day of teaching highly rewarding, rewarding enough to make up for numerous frustrations and challenges and flat-out inequities, are two very different things.
Every teacher, even struggling ones, have those "This is why I do this!" moments that keep them shored up. For some, reinforcement on that variable a schedule is sufficient. For others, those moments alone aren't enough to offset the struggles.
You caught that too, did you? It should have never gotten to the point where parents and students were filing formal complaints. I am still trying to figure out how there was no oversight of posted grades.
I'm also amazed at why the complaints have been targeted to the student teacher - I'd be wondering about the teacher herself instead. Student teachers aren't supposed to know what they are doing.
My student teaching was not a lot of handholding with a day or two of running the classroom, here and there.
It was 16 weeks. Because I was secondary ed, which was 7-12 licensure in that state at that time, it was traditionally to be eight weeks of middle school practicum, eight weeks of senior high practicum. Because of the setup of my school (rural district, k-12 all one building), I was assigned to do both my middle school and senior high practicum concurrently, doing both for all sixteen weeks. I got two weeks to observe in each class (a 7th grade Language Arts class, an 8th grade Language Arts class, two sections of 11th grade American literature, and an 11/12th grade creative writing class), one week of team teaching each, and then I was on my own.
As noted, my senior high level cooperating teacher went to Spain for three weeks of the term, and left me alone in the classroom with a sub who sat in back and read magazines. I was on my own.
I constantly wonder about the quality of the teacher training programs that don't think they need to actually supervise the teacher and school involved. This is essentially an unqualified person teaching a class. This actually happened to my son in kindergarten, with disasterous results.
My teacher training program was quite well-run, overall, as it was a very well-regarded, highly academically ranked college. The practicum semester, however, was less than I expected, quality-wise. It was treated as a very hand-off, "you're on your own"-type internship, with minimal college-initiated involvement other than periodic faculty observations. My impression was that the department was taken aback by the actions of my cooperating teacher.
In my case, I had some factors that limited my placement options, too, which I think played a major role in a suboptimal placement.
The majority of my cohort were students from a metropolis about an hour away, and sought student teaching placments in choice suburban districts where they were from, and lived at home during the practicum, vs. on campus.
I lived on campus, was an out of state student about 800 miles from home, was an RA, and couldn't take a placement that wouldn't allow me to be in residence on campus.
My sole option was a local rural K-12, all-one-building district that did not historically work with the college in that way, no longstanding relationship. It wasn't necessarily anybody's first pick as a partnering school, but it was what was available, given my constraints.
I'm also amazed at why the complaints have been targeted to the student teacher - I'd be wondering about the teacher herself instead. Student teachers aren't supposed to know what they are doing.
Right. It makes no sense, but this is what happens in some programs, and depending on the teacher.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mnseca
I constantly wonder about the quality of the teacher training programs that don't think they need to actually supervise the teacher and school involved. This is essentially an unqualified person teaching a class. This actually happened to my son in kindergarten, with disasterous results.
Some of them aren't very good, and the whole arrangement, as well as the actual Ed. coursework for would-be teachers, can be very casual. To some extent, it seems to depend on the state. NY, or NYC at least, from what I've heard and read, is rigorous. Other states and state universities--very lightweight. I would add, also, that it doesn't matter how well-ranked a college or university is. The Education Dept. can be off in its own world in a well-ranked school. The uni. I attended is considered a "public Ivy", but the Education Dept. was a joke.
I'm also amazed at why the complaints have been targeted to the student teacher - I'd be wondering about the teacher herself instead. Student teachers aren't supposed to know what they are doing.
I question that, "Student teachers aren't supposed to know what they are doing." If they have gotten that far in a teaching program and they don't know what they are doing I think the person is not serious about teaching, very immature or probably both.
I have been with many student teachers as a substitute teacher and one of the best was not even a student teacher. She was a sophomore who had to spend several weeks in a practicum. She ran the class better than many student teachers I have seen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mnseca
I constantly wonder about the quality of the teacher training programs that don't think they need to actually supervise the teacher and school involved. This is essentially an unqualified person teaching a class. This actually happened to my son in kindergarten, with disasterous results.
When I student taught, my supervising professor was my advisor who I also had for several methods classes. I had to be prepared that he could show up at any time to observe me.
I run into student teachers from one university who have student teaching supervisors who are supposed to observe them. I have subbed in the class when they are supposed to be observed and there is nothing to observe. They have no lesson plans prepared and the students are typically working on a group project such as a poster presentation.
Not having lesson plans was an automatic fail in my program.
They actually cared at times more about about the details and structure of the lesson plans than how you actually conducted the class, whether the lesson plan was followed and worked well, if it was actually functional in meeting the goals it purported to meet, etc.
The longer I worked in education, the more and more I observed the amount of focus that was heaped on paperwork and process, versus how comparatively little focus was put on instruction and outcomes.
While it's a general rule of thumb that positive outcomes and solid instruction are better supported by good organization, it always rubbed me the wrong way that even if lessons were mediocre and unengaging, as long as a teacher presented flawlessly formatted lesson plans, it was all good.
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