So, the other day at school one of the students came to my cooperating teacher after homeroom to tell her she lost her schedule and didn't know what classes she had that day. I didn't hear the entire conversation between the two of them but as I was leaving class, I heard my cooperating teacher say to the student "copy your schedule down quickly and try not to be late to math." In an effort to help, I grabbed this students schedule and ran to the office to make a copy so she wouldn't be late for math. My cooperating teacher then ran into the office with the student and told me that I shouldn't have done this and that the student should continue copying down her schedule.
I assume that my cooperating teacher was trying to teach this student a lesson about responsibility and being independent (she's in 5th grade, her first year at the Center School) but I felt uneasy about the whole situation for the rest of the day.
Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting incident. Was the student present when your cooperating teacher told you you shouldn’t have tried to help? Was there any other dialogue between you, your cooperating teacher, or the student or did you take the schedule to the office without saying a word? Have you spoken to your cooperating teacher about this incident since it occurred?
Nicole, these are wonderful clarifying questions! I would also like to know a bit more about the student. Can you give us some more background on the learner?
ReplyDeleteAlyssa,
ReplyDeleteWhat a strange thing for the teacher to do don't you think? Like Nicole I wonder if you and your teacher have had a conversations about the incident? Has she given you any concrete reasons for not wanting to help? Have you brought it up with her? (I only ask this because one of my co-ops and I had a misunderstanding of words and the whole thing went sort of unresolved until I brought the subject up - all is good now though since we had a discussion about it). In general would you say this seemingly harsh (by not letting you copy the schedule, taking the student in after you, and making her continue to copy) handling of this student typical of this teachers interactions with students, or is she particularly hard on this student? Could the teacher not have just printed out another copy of the schedule if she had it there for the student to copy?
As for the student, is she generally forgetful and absent minded with her things? Has she lost the schedule before? Is there some kind of animosity or general dislike of one of the other?
Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteWhen did this conversation take place? Was it in the morning when the teacher had time to deal with the problem or was it 1 minute before math started and the student should have come to the teacher before then? I would also like to know, like Lauren asked, does this student forget things a lot of was this her first time? Another thing I would like to know is, what type of learner is the student? Does she learn better from example and would benefit from working with someone to create a new schedule for her, or would it be better for her to sit alone and create a schedule without your help? The last thing I would want to know is, is there anything that you can remember about the conversation between the student and the teacher? Was the student generally upset with lousing her schedule or was it obvious that she just wanted the teacher to do the work for her?
I'll try to answer all of your questions...
ReplyDeleteThe student is a 5th grader, so she is new to the Center School. I only see her in social studies, but I know that she can sometimes be a little absent-minded. This happened during the 5 minute hall break between the end of homeroom and the beginning of first period. All I remember about the conversation between the student and the teacher was that my coop said to the student, "copy down your schedule quickly so you're not late to math. I don't want this copy of your schedule to leave this room." I don't think the student was upset that she lost her schedule but I think she was a bit flustered and overwhelmed by the situation. She didn't even ask if she could copy the schedule, I went up to her and told her that I could help. I don't think she wanted the work done for her.
I have not had a conversation with my coop teacher about this incident, but everything was normal afterwards. We have taught together nicely and really no tension has arisen from this situation.
I think it was harsh of my coop teacher to do this, but I think that in general, she is a little harsh in the discipline department. When a student arrives late to class or is obviously misbehaving/not listening to her, she overreact a little in a manner that I know I wouldn't.
Alyssa,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that your cooperating teacher may have wanted the student to learn to be more responsible. The simple act of giving the student the schedule she already lost once may be sending the message that the teacher will print her a new one if she loses her schedule again. This also leads me to think about the idea of student accountability at the most basic level. If students continuously come to school unprepared and teachers provide them with materials such as pens, looseleaf paper, or schedules that they lost, students will expect the teachers to provide all of this for them any time they forget. They will not learn how to be responsible for themselves or their own learning.
Who are you referring to at the end of the first paragraph of your response in the sentence “I don’t think she wanted the work done for her.”? I’m sorry, I am a little confused about whether you are saying you don’t think the student or the teacher doesn’t want the work done for her.
I am a big proponent of student accountability. I believe that students should be on top of their learning all the time. That being said, your students are in middle school correct? I feel like this teacher was a little harsh with such a young student. Also, I wonder if having the student copy down the schedule by hand will actually help this student achieve better accountability for their learning. Seems unlikely to me. I would suggest having schedules laminated and decorated by each student. This way the students will (possibly) feel some pride in their "work" on the schedule and want to keep hold of it.
ReplyDeleteIf time was so short, do you think that the teacher could have simply told her what classes she has up to lunch, and then have the student come in and copy the schedule? That way the student is not taking time out of her academics, but taking time out of her free time. This way she is working on her accountability but also being, I don't want to say punished but for lack of a better word, "punished" for losing her schedule.
ReplyDeleteAlyssa,
ReplyDeleteWhat has this conversation helped you think about in dealing with students outside the classroom, in between classes, and regarding routine "stuff"? How are we always on as teachers? What will be your boundaries?