The Role of Others in the Reflection Process
As a student teacher, I have had several formative experiences in collaboration this year. First and foremost, I have learned from my classroom mentor. I have learned both by reflecting on her lessons, pedagogical strategies, and management techniques, as well as by asking questions, accepting constructive criticism, and reflecting on feedback she provides when I teach. Working under a master teacher, I have been encouraged to step back and think critically about how her classroom works well, what practices she uses that make her classroom work so well, what I would like to incorporate into my own practice, and more. My classroom mentor also provides a sounding board for me to talk about both my observations of her and my experiences of teaching. Processing my classroom mentor’s feedback requires me to think metacognitively to determine how what she says relates to my thinking and teaching and to assimilate her feedback into my teaching – I need to be aware of how I am teaching so that I can change it.
Having a mentor also requires metacognition in lesson planning. When I show my lesson plans to my classroom mentor, I have to be able to defend my choices in planning certain activities and choosing specific learning goals. I have to be able to explain why I made the decisions that I made in both planning and teaching, and I have to be able to answer questions from my mentor. My classroom mentor speeds up the reflection process by being a mirror in which I can more easily see the strengths and weaknesses of my teaching. An example of this can be seen in a journal entry I wrote to my Penn mentor about an interaction with my classroom mentor. My classroom mentor observed me working one-on-one with students on their writing, saw a way that I needed to change what I was doing, and pulled me aside to discuss it with me. She explained the reasoning behind the change, and I was able to incorporate it into my teaching the next day. I appreciate having a mentor who points out weaknesses and helps me improve as a teacher.
Having a mentor also requires metacognition in lesson planning. When I show my lesson plans to my classroom mentor, I have to be able to defend my choices in planning certain activities and choosing specific learning goals. I have to be able to explain why I made the decisions that I made in both planning and teaching, and I have to be able to answer questions from my mentor. My classroom mentor speeds up the reflection process by being a mirror in which I can more easily see the strengths and weaknesses of my teaching. An example of this can be seen in a journal entry I wrote to my Penn mentor about an interaction with my classroom mentor. My classroom mentor observed me working one-on-one with students on their writing, saw a way that I needed to change what I was doing, and pulled me aside to discuss it with me. She explained the reasoning behind the change, and I was able to incorporate it into my teaching the next day. I appreciate having a mentor who points out weaknesses and helps me improve as a teacher.
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In addition to my classroom mentor, I have been mentored by a former teacher who works regularly with Penn students. Each week I write a journal entry to my Penn mentor, and she responds. I ask questions about things that happen in the classroom, tell brief stories to show what I’m learning or what I’m struggling with, and more. My Penn mentor observes my teaching every week, and her regular presence in my class has proved invaluable. Since she’s in the classroom often, she knows the students in my class and can discuss specific students or specific incidents with me. She also provides another set of notes on what happens in the classroom and on my teaching, which I can then compare to my own notes. Her expertise, much like that of my classroom mentor, provides a fast-tracked reflection of my teaching.
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Each semester, my classroom mentor and Penn mentor complete descriptive reviews of me as a teacher. I also answer the review questions, and we meet to discuss our answers. These meetings provide a chance for me to hear specifically what I am doing well and what I need to improve upon in the classroom, and they provide a chance for me to see if my self-assessment is aligned with my mentors’ perceptions of me. The descriptive review at the end of my first semester of student teaching, shown here, was the first time I was able to pinpoint my desire to be a more reflective teacher.
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In addition to my two mentors, I have collaborated with many of my classmates at Penn. One benefit of a cohort-based program is that the 40 or so of us spend the entire year together and get to know one another fairly well. My classmates are a resource for me; one of the descriptive reviews I mentioned above was presented to a small group of my classmates in a process that allowed them to discuss the issues I presented and provide several helpful suggestions for dealing with that particular student. Notes I took about my classmates' comments and suggestions, some of which I then implemented in my classroom, are pictured below. Additionally, one of the early lessons I taught in the fall was co-written with two of my classmates who also teach kindergarten at Penn Alexander School this year. I learned a lot from brainstorming together, writing together, and then revising our lesson after each of us taught it. Finally, my cohort at Penn has been a place to discuss educational theories, pedagogy, teaching problems, pros and cons of public education, classroom management, and more. I have been challenged by some of my classmates’ ideas, and they have caused me to reexamine my own beliefs and practices regarding teaching and learning.
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