Jessica Arl is currently a long-term substitute teacher in our school. She student taught with me in the Spring of 2016 and graduated in December 2016 with a certificate to teach English in grades 6-12 from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
This is post five of six in a series about student teaching, mentoring, and how we are always becoming teachers: “The Coaching Tree for Teachers.” In this post, Jessica reflects on our time working together, what she is discovering as a teacher in her own classroom, and how she might support her future student teachers.
1) What ideas, beliefs, lessons did you take away from our time together that seem helpful in your own teaching now?
When I was first told that I would be student teaching with you, I had no idea just how much I would learn about myself as a teacher and as a person in general. I remember walking in the first week and being amazed by the relationships you had with students inside your classroom as well as outside of it. That is one, if not the most, important thing I took away from working with you. Now, as I walk into my own classroom each morning, I say “hello, [student name]” or “how are you, [student name]?” to each student. I want to start the day off by making that connection with them and letting them know that I am here for THEM. You always showed me just how important these relationships are, and I thank you for that. Another idea I took away from my time with you is that teaching isn’t just standing in front of the room talking about character interactions in a novel or explaining where to place commas, but it is figuring out what to do next. It’s taking the time to analyze what the students understand and what they don’t. It’s looking at individual students and figuring out the best way to engage them. It’s realizing that this lesson might not work for each class or any class at all. Teaching has many obstacles you have to overcome, but you have to be flexible and resilient in order to work through them. The last thing I learned from you is about myself as a person, which has heavily impacted my teaching. I learned just how much resilience and strength I have. I learned that it’s okay to have bad days, and that I just need to always remember the reason I chose teaching in the first place: To be there for the students. I remember the last day we worked together during my student teaching, and you said, “You belong here.” When I have bad days now, I always think back to that moment and know that I do belong here, and that teaching is what I should be doing.
2) What are you struggling with or working through now and is there something we could have done during student teaching to help?
Since I started long-term subbing, it has been hard getting used to teaching, helping, and guiding 20+ students all by myself. During student teaching, I always had you there to help when things got out of hand, and I never really understood just how exhausting and frustrating it can be when doing it by yourself. I have had trouble getting and maintaining my classes’ attention, and it has taken a toll on me. Even during student teaching I had trouble with this when you would be out for a day. I don’t think this is something that can be taught since every class and every student is different. Rather, it is something that you need to have experience with. Even though I still struggle with this, I can see improvement in myself as a teacher.
3) When you are ready for a student teacher, what do you think you can most help with and what do you think new teachers just have to figure out on their own?
For me, I think I can help most with showing how important relationships with students are. I believe that forming these connections provides a basis for you as a teacher, and I have seen how it positively affects the students. Teaching is way more than just the academic aspect, and it is important to know that when you step into this profession. You won’t reach every student, that’s impossible, but by creating those small connections, you are doing more than you think. One thing I think new teachers have to figure out one their own is definitely classroom management. Each class is different and has an array of students with specific learning, behavioral, and emotional needs that require a multitude of different supports. Of course there are strategies to help manage and teach classes, but you can’t plan for it without being in the classroom first. For new teachers, I just want you to know that there will be bad days. There will be days you feel helpless, but always remember that each day is a new day.