Today I had an observation at a school right along the border of Brooklyn and Queens. I had quite the adventure getting there - I headed the wrong way off the train and ended up wandering further into Queens than I'd like to admit before I realized my error and headed back. I also decided to break in a new pair of dress shoes for the occasion, a move I regretted partway through my misguided trek when I realized I had rubbed my heels completely raw. Limping, I admitted defeat to the shoes and stopped briefly to change into the converse I'd stashed in my bag. Though I left with time to spare and began the day well dressed, I arrived at the school twenty minutes late and wearing slacks, a dress shirt, and sneakers. Fail.
Though my morning got off to a shaky start, my observation went well. My host, Ms. H, was a fantastic teacher, and I felt inspired by how well she engaged her students in the material and at the same time quelled any disruptions before they could become an issue. From my vantage point, I could see that my host had a great deal of respect for her students' abilities and time, and they in turn showed the same respect for her. The reason I mention time is there was an interesting dynamic happening, one which I later talked to Ms. H about during her break. Due to the approaching Regents exams, she's planned out each lesson for the next week to ensure all the necessary material gets covered. The trouble, if it can really be called that, is that her students are bright and inquisitive, and though their questions were insightful Ms. H had to limit open discussion and table questions that would normally be welcome and encouraged for the sake of time. She later commented that she felt she was cheating them out of learning material they were actually interested in so she could grind through topics they had to know for their exam. But what to do?
One of the first things Ms. H told me and the other observer (also a new Fellow) upon dismissing her class was that she's gotten loads of questions about the hiring freeze. Her advice was concise and honest: there are always an ample amount of Chemistry positions in the Bronx, but there's a reason for that, too. And another bit of advice: be glad you're not doing Math, as apparently those jobs are more scarce and they're more high stakes, as the Math Regents is a graduation requirement.
Since I started preparing for this program in earnest, and especially since I moved to the city, I feel that I've been taking a crash course in educational politics. It's interesting, and a little bizarre at times, but these little tidbits are all part of the same puzzle. I may be observing another class soon, and if so I'll report back on how that goes.
3 comments:
It's great that you got to see a truly caring, responsive teacher who feels hurt by the "teach to the test" necessity in schools these days.
I saw a class like that, too, and it was heartbreaking to see the kids' interest sometimes shut down because there was so much to cover in so little time. I suppose I'm already biased against high stakes testing, which perhaps makes me not a good Fellow.
Getting thrown into the politics of the ed system is really rough, and there's no way to avoid it even if we want to because the hiring freeze and the union's lobbying affects us immediately. I hope this cohort doesn't end up too jaded!
Sounds fun and kinda crazy. You should have worn your converse until you got to the school and then changed into your girl shoes.
was this ms. HH? if so, she's awesome!
The testing is something I struggled with this year. We learn that if you teach via discovery, they retain the material. For the most part, I have found that to be absolutely not true with my students. I spent so much of the year on interesting projects, discovery lessons, hands on learning, yet when it came down to multiple choice Regent's questions, they were unable to make the transition with the success I was hoping to see.
So as much as I also hate teaching to the test, I found it inevitable and will have to do it even more so next year, I'm sure to the delight of my students.
Post a Comment