Hello my dear education folk,
First of all my apologies for this endless email. I really need some advice and you all know me really well and I really trust and appreciate your opinions so hopefully I can get some good advice that'll help me out.
Before I get into my dilemma for which I need some advice on, I just wanted to say hello, hope that everyone is doing well and that things are going OK at good old C of I (SO weird to say that!). In general, things are going well here. We have our first benchmark test on Friday, which is a little nerve wracking but to be expected, but on the upside, it means 1/4 of the school year is over. Plus, it's November, which means Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and a non-student day. Is it good that I'm focusing on my days off?? :) In general, I really like my kids. I have a kick-butt class of seventh graders who are so inquisitive and enthusiastic, which helps me deal with my less enthusiastic other seventh grade classes. In general, my eighth graders are OK, a few problem kids who I have a hard time dealing with because they take away my attention from the other kids, but I'm working on various strategies to deal with them specifically and individually.
OK, now for the requesting of advice. A little background first. So, first and second year teachers in California have to do something called BTSA (I think I mentioned this). It's basically first year teacher mentoring and on top of having to go to a bunch of meetings and training sessions outside of class, I need to have a BTSA support person come in and observe me. The woman who comes in is called a TOSA (Teacher on Special Assignment), which I seem to understand as a teacher who is out of the classroom for a few years doing something else- in this case, BTSA. So my supporter person is a third (or fifth, I can't remember) grade teacher who is spending a few years as a support person for BTSA. So the first few times she observed me, it was for a few minutes each time, popping in, sitting in the back for a bit, and then leaving. A few weeks ago, she came and made her first informal but official evaluation. It wasn't the best lesson to see and I know that and admit it. I had been out of the classroom on Monday and had to be out the following week so it was one of those "OK, today's going to be a bit of lecture and not much time to dwell on specifics, so let's just do this". The lesson wasn't a standard, it was just to introduce the kids to a concept so that they could have background knowledge of the following day. Anyway, I got absolutely NO positive feedback whatsoever, which was really frustrating because I know I'm not a perfect teacher but you taught me well, there are some things that I can do correctly. she made a big deal about putting thought into picking who I called on (not just randomly selecting), Think-Pair-Share, etc. I understood her criticisms but it was just frustrating that it wasn't an ideal lesson for her to see and I didn't' really feel like she was getting a good snapshot of what my classroom was like. Since then (before today), she had been in the classroom maybe twice for about two minutes, literally, each time.
So today was another "official" evaluation. This time I made sure that my lesson included group work, group sharing, questioning strategies, etc. I thought that I was putting together a good lesson. Basically we were talking about the rights and responsibilities of a citizen. I started off by asking the students for certain rights that we had been talking about. Some students raised their hands and gave the rights, while I pointedly called on other students. That was the check for understanding, accessing prior knowledge part. Then I asked them what responsibility means. Those students who couldn't define it were asked to give examples and I really didn't do much participating, other than asking questions. (How is babysitting being responsible? Are your parents responsible? For what? What about you? You're 13, do you have responsibilities? etc.) Then I asked them what responsibilities they had to their classroom/school/city/etc. and then asked them about their country. Instead of having them raise their hand, I had them brainstorm individually three ways they participate and are responsible to their country. While they were writing these down, I circled round the classroom and gave some students a brief one-on-one time to help them dig a little deeper. After a few minutes, when each student had at least three things written down, I asked them to share with the table and generate a communal list. I then called on each table and specifically asked one of the students to share so we could generate a list on the board. Again, they were supplying the answers and I was following up with specific questions to get more information. Finally, they got into the textbook and took notes on the textbook list and then discussed what they thought the most important way to participate in government. We didn't get a chance to discuss this but they had to write a paragraph for homework.
All in all, I felt that the class went really well. but when I sat down with Feather, my BTSA lady, she was so critical again. So this is what I'm frustrated with. I want to give you some examples of what she said to me and ask for advice on how I should respond and what I should do in the future.
She told me that I didn't have a system when calling on students and that I should use popsicle sticks or cards so that each student has an equal opportunity to be called on. I responded that my expectation is that all my students should be able to answer a question. It's part of their class participation points, they were told at the beginning of the year that nobody is exempt from speaking in class, etc. I didn't think it was necessary or particularly age level (especially since I'm trying to prepare them for high school) to use popsicle sticks. She argued that some students are ELL and I replied that regardless if they're ELL or gifted or whatever, I have the same expectation of them that they answer my question. Maybe the expectation of their level of response is different but I know my students, I know which ones like to answer questions and which ones don't and I make sure that even if I don't get to them during class, then I've talked to them and questioned them while making my rounds around the room
She made me a "minutes" sheet of how long I spent on each thing and she indicated that the first ten minutes were lecture. This was when we were talking about what rights and responsibilities are. I don't' understand why she called this lecture. I really didn't feel that pretty much any of it was lecture. It felt more like a discussion where the teacher led by questioning strategies. Never was I standing up in the front of the room and talking and having the kids take notes. She reprimanded me for not using Think-Pair-Share enough and that I only did it once when it was actually several times. And additionally, this goes back to a BTSA training where we were told that if we have the kids Think-Pair-Share first, we should be able to call on ANYONE and get an answer, since they're already shared. Yet, I get reprimanded for calling on students randomly....
I was told that I don't have an established standard for classroom management. I know that classroom management is something that I've had trouble with in the past, especially with my tenth graders last year, but it's something that I feel I have quite under control. I feel like I've t rained my students to know that when I stand up in front of the room, then it's their cue to be silent. Usually it takes a few students to start going "shhh" and within seconds, everyone is quiet. They know that I can keep them after, not let them leave with the bell, etc., and they tend to quiet up quickly. Sometimes I have to give them verbal cues by asking them to quiet down or saying sh but do you think that there's really a problem with that? I know that there are classes that have much worst classroom management and that I'm not the perfect classroom but so far I haven't felt like time has been wasted by my method and it gives me classroom and more relaxed and not as uptight atmosphere. When it's those days that we really need all the time we can get, I let them know right off the bat and this is NOT a day for messing around and in the last two months, I haven't had any problems with that.
This wasn't a big deal but just slightly pissed me off- she said that she could model a lesson for me even though she doesn't know history. She can teach the instruction but "fake her way through the history". I nearly slapped her. There's no way that I'm letting her teach my class if she doesn't know the content.
Anyway, I guess my problem is I feel like I have to change things that are working to appease the person who's watching me. Any advice on what do to? I feel like I need to make each lesson that she watches "perfect", as in do WHATEVER little detail she wants me to do, whether it helps out the class or not. I'm just frustrated- I feel like she's trying to lower my expectations of the kids and treat them like babies instead of getting them ready for high school. I know that this school is NOT Timberline but I still feel like, especially with my background in high school, that we should try and treat them more like high schoolers instead of elementary school kids. I'm just really frustrated, confused, angry, bitter, etc., etc. Any advice that you can give, I would so appreciate it.
-Michal
All I have to say after reading that again is AAARRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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