A new field placement, how exciting! You prep your first-day outfit the night before, walk into the new school, and look around to get a feel for this new incredible environment. A new opportunity. Your heart skips as you make your way to your new class with your new supervising teacher, and as you open the door you think of how great this going to be.
Are they funny? Are they strict? Are they young? Will they like me? Maybe they'll let me teach a lesson.
The first day is always the most telling.
I walked in and watched as a teacher had his class's full attention; he made jokes to keep them engaged, and as class was dismissed he approached me and shook my hand. So far so good.
He then explained that he had two hours of prep every other week, so we would have plenty of time to get to know each other. In this time, my high hopes and wishes for an amazing field placement teacher suddenly became grounded.
As someone who wants to teach in urban education, who is extremely passionate about making math engaging and interactive, and who is not afraid to speak her mind, the next two hours of conversation were painful.
When I asked him why he went into urban education, he told me that he just wanted to get into the thick of it then leave to go teach back home. He, just like many other people in these students' lives, was going to stick around for a few years then leave to move onto something "better."
When asked if he uses manipulatives, he responded with, "Well, I was never taught how to teach with them, so I just don't." That's not good enough. It's one thing if you're busy, but it's something else if you are selling your students' education short because you can't look up a lesson plan or teach yourself how to use Algebra Tiles.
I asked him if he'd be interested in me showing him a few tricks, but he skipped over the question like he really doesn't need them. Of course, many teachers don't use them, but they would be incredibly useful in a class of students who have so much energy and who are bored of the daily routine. Even still, maybe the teachers who don't use them should at least try them.
He even went on to explain how he teaches from the book for one of his classes, which I soon learned was not an exaggeration. Using a document camera, he projected the book's page onto the big screen and read off of the examples.
So why does this matter?
After working with him for a few weeks, he started to go from pure lecture to inquiry-based teaching. After I suggested that his students could use more time to think about the questions he's asking, he started to give them their own example to work on individually. This way, he could walk around and see where everyone was throughout the class rather than seeing how lost they were the next day from their homework (or lack thereof). He even had me cut out some Algebra Tiles from a template he found on their textbook's website.
My point is that sometimes we, as pre-service teachers, set our hopes high for our teachers; they're our mentors for that semester, and we want this experience to be as wonderful as possible. But sometimes you have to work with them to get there. I've heard amazing stories from friends whose teachers are so inclusive and engaging, but those teachers are also experienced. My teacher was going on his fourth year, and took what I had to say into consideration after asking me what I would do to better his classroom. That's what collaboration is.