Episode #99: Dear Cooperating Teachers

Music Teacher Coffee Talk · MTCT Episode #99: Dear Cooperating Teachers

 

In this episode, Carrie and Tanya give advice and ideas for cooperating teachers who will be welcoming a student teacher into their classroom in the near future.

Main Theme

Advice and ideas for cooperating teachers:

• Considerations
• Are you ready for a student teacher? Don't feel pressured to accept a student teacher if the timing isn't right.
• Get to know your local universities and what kind of training and preparation they will be coming to you with.
• Preparation
• Prepare a space: small desk or work area
• Prepare your students: invite the teacher in a few times before the real start.
• Have established routines and procedures and ensure your student teacher will continue those practices.
• Establish when your student teacher will do their work sample (if required in your state). Consider encouraging your student teacher to do that project during their secondary student teaching placement.
• Prepare your curriculum and materials
• Shared Google Drive folder with…
• Overall curriculum
• Yearly plans for each grade
• Concept plans for the concepts your student teacher will be teaching (with blank areas!)
• Suggested song lists
• Folder to drop pictures and videos
• A running Google Doc with daily informal observation notes
• Collaboratively create a calendar of teaching responsibilities. Ask your student what grade they feel most comfortable with, and start there. Make sure they have at least a few days of perhaps a week where they are doing the full teaching day, including all planning (with guidance).
• Gradual Release: Student teacher starts by observing. Then add shadowing one grade at a time, where the cooperating teachers lessons or portions of lessons that the cooperating teacher has planned and taught to one section of classes. Layer on the student teacher taking on the planning responsibilities, one grade at time. This timing depends on the readiness and confidence of the student teacher.
• Consider co-teach some or all lessons. This requires a lot more collaboration.
• Consider planning a performance or "informance" during their time with you. Collaboratively plan and direct the performance.
• When your student teacher is teaching
• Stay in the room and stay present, especially in the beginning of the student teacher's independent teaching time. Take informal notes on a running Google Doc. However, also look for opportunities to leave the classroom for small periods to allow the student teacher to relax and settle in with the students without your presence.
• DO NOT JUMP IN unless it is a major safety concern. Let them crash and burn. It's better than jumping in and undermining their authority.
• Hold to the expectation that your student teacher sticks to your general yearly plans, but allow for creativity and personalization. Intentionally leave gaps in your concept plans for student teachers to their own ideas.
• Make time to look over lesson plans prior to teaching and make minor suggestions for tweaking, but don’t rewrite their plans. Let them teach it once and then ask them what minor changes they will make for the other sections?
• Take pictures and videos for their portfolio.
• Each lunch together in the teacher’s lounge for the first couple of weeks. Then let them decide as they get busier in their planning and teaching duties.
• Include them in staff meetings and professional development opportunities.
• Wrapping it up:
• Give a gift to them.
• A picture book
• Student signatures on something (like a planter)
• An instrument (nice hand drum)
• A TpT gift card or offer to pay their membership/workshop fees for a professional organization post-grad.
• Be prepared for a couple of weeks to recalibrate your students, both behaviorally and academically.

Know Better, Do Better

We often use the analogy of "windows and mirrors" when having conversations with colleagues about culturally responsive teaching. Carrie did some research about the originators of this concept. Here is some interesting background information.

Curriculum as Window and Mirror by Emily Style

First published in 1988

Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Glass Doors by Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop

First published in 1990

More interesting articles and videos:

https://www.weareteachers.com/mirrors-and-windows/

https://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/experts/rudine-sims-bishop

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Tanya recommends planning lessons on a particular day with similar themes or materials across multiple grades. For example, consider planning Orff instruments for multiple grades so you don't have to clean up the instruments between classes. The same idea can be applied to stations: you can set up the same basic stations, but swap out the specific materials based on the grade level concepts you are working on.

Coda

Carrie recommends the book El Patio de Mi Casa by Gabriela Montoya-Stier. I especially love the chant El Reloj de la Calavera and this adorable YouTube video to go with the chant.

Tanya recommends the book The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

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