From the first day the students entered the classroom my mentor teacher and I were presented to the students as equal teachers. I was not the first MAT to be in the student’s classroom, therefore many of them knew that I was a student teacher and that some questions and responsibilities would need to be directed towards my mentor teacher. At the start of the year this redirection was needed frequently, by the end of the year these specific questions became more and more rare. As the year progressed more units became my responsibility to design and teach.
Classroom Responsibilities
- Homework: Each morning the students would enter the classroom and put their homework in the homework bin. It was my responsibility to check that each student was completed their assignments and correct the homework. To many this sounds like clerical work, but for me it allowed for me to have a look at what the students are able to do individually and allowed for me to see where the students were lacking understanding across the majority. This informed our daily practice.
- Supporting students with individual needs: In result to us being fortunate enough to have two teachers in the room, there were many times which I was able to support students who needed individual attention. This could mean students needing extra time on an assignment, one on one testing, or disputes/behavior that needed to be taken care of in the hall way. These were some of my favorite times during this year. These are times when you get to really see your students character and open a space for their personal growth.
- Dismissal: At the end of the day my mentor teacher would need to leave to begin her dismissal duty. During this time is was my responsibility to manage my class.
Social Studies
From the very start of school I have been responsible for making engaging lesson plans for social studies. You can see a more detailed description my unit about Immigration: Then and Now. In addition to this my class made physical geography maps of the United States, made class pledges after a short unit on citizenship, became experts on the regions of the United States and experts about a chosen state.
Science
In result to scheduling science was often put on the back burner. In result to this we were only able to complete on full science unit. For a more detailed description of my science unit click here.
CIA and Writing
- CIA: This is the guided reading program which Worcester has adopted across the city. This program is very scripted, which made swapping between teachers very easy. The majority of the year this was not solely my responsibility, as the year progressed I was given the opportunity to lead this time more and more.
- Book Clubs: This is an extension of CIA which divides students up into groups based on their reading level. From there the students read an appropriate chapter book, take notes, and respond. During this time it was my job to run “book conferences” with groups or provide individual support where needed.
- Informative Writing: This year the city of Worcester adopted a technique called P.O.W.E.R which involves a chart called T.I.D.E. These techniques and charts help the students organize the informational writing process. During most of the year my role during this time was to support the push-in ELL teacher while she worked with the ELL students with the goal to write five paragraph essays.
- Narrative Writing: The city of Worcester also initiated using an organizational chart called a WWWwhat2how2. This chart also helped the students brain storm and organize their thoughts. We did not start using this program until late in the year, but I was given the opportunity to create and implement some of these writing pieces, beginning to end. When I was not directly leading, I was supporting those students who needed extra attention.
Math
During the second half of the year my mentor teacher and I began teaching the students two lessons at a time. We split the class into two groups and would teach mini lessons and then swap. Throughout the year I taught lessons on multiplication, division, and a variety of lessons in geometry. To see a detailed description of a math unit click here.
School Support
- Recess Duty: Once a week I supported the school by covering recess. In some cases this meant standing in the gym or in the outside area monitoring with other teachers. On days when it rained it was my responsibility to bring a class and cover them in their classroom sometimes two classes in one room.
- Dismissal: During dismissal my job was to help the teachers get the right kids into the right cars at vehicle pick up. During the second half of the year my dismissal duty was walking the students the mile to the Boys and Girls Club each day. This dismissal was interesting because it gave me the opportunity to get to know kids who I may not usually come in contact with. During this time they would often engage in a steady conversation the entire way there.
- Coverage: Throughout the year I got the opportunity to work on my classroom management techniques while covering in classrooms ranging from first grade to sixth grade. These coverages ranged from 15 minutes to two days.