How to Handle a Million Things At Once, or, the Life of a Normal Teacher --Clifton

This past week I was in the middle of planning a lesson when my CT says, "Stop whatever it is that you are doing and get these done." He drops a pile of papers marked confidential on the desk in front of me. Progress reports for all our students with IEPs. Immediately I start second-guessing myself. Does this student have preferential seating? Have they been using it? Or whether or not one student took tests in small groups. A large part of my nervousness is from this being a new task. But I also realize that I was not as familiar with these students' needs as I thought I was.

Later last week as our class draws to a close, and I tell a student that he needs to "pick up the pace," because he needs to turn work in. As I start to move on, the student says something that makes me turn around: "What do you mean?" I don't know what to think but answer him anyway. "You need to work faster because class ends in five minutes and you need to turn that in." As I walk away he says in a joking sounding voice, "Figures of speech won't get you anywhere with me." I remember that this student has Asperger's Disorder and so has trouble understanding figurative language.

I might not always understand when a student is telling me how they need me to teach them. This is not a straightforward task. It's hard to tell what a particular student needs. It is difficult to teach each student in the class the way they learn best. I have been trying to provide students with a variety of different tasks so that they can take advantage of their strengths. No one expects us to be experts yet, but it is frustrating to be constantly confronted with my own shortcomings as a teacher. I'm ready for spring break. The break will give me extra time to think about how I can accomplish everything that I need to in my next unit.

Meta-Reflection--Clifton

In our classes in our teacher education program, we are constantly reminded of the value of reflection. Even when we are skeptical of its value, it is still something that we do, because it is required for our courses. But when do you reflect when you need all of your time to do something else? Time is something that, as Tom points out, we have too little of. When we are trying to focus on everything else that we need to do, it is very easy to lose track of the practice that our professors have been trying to hammer into our brains.

My cooperating teacher (CT) frequently asks me questions that sound rhetorical but are not. Or he will ask me a question that I think I can get out of by answering with a simple yes or no. He doesn't let me get away with a yes or no, and he presses me to elaborate and to give every little detail. "What weren't you happy about in that lesson?" is not a question that he allows me to answer with one or two sentences. I am very thankful that my CT is there to ask those questions. Like so many things, reflecting on your teaching is something that we need to make automatic.

Very soon we will be all but left to our own devices in the classroom. Once we finish our student teaching and have our own classroom, there will rarely be another adult in the classroom to ask us why we did something the way we did. Student teaching isn't the same thing as having your own classroom. It's a chance to hone those skills that we will have too little time to work on once we start teaching in our own classroom next year.

More Amazing Teachers

Abri is teaching twelfth grade government. She is most looking forward to being in the classroom every day so that she can learn more about herself as a teacher and experience what it is like to teach something beyond a single lesson.




Kelly is teaching Algebra II and Math Analysis to grades 9 through 12. During student teaching she is looking forward to trying out ideas like Parabola Playtime, getting to know her students, and building confidence as a teacher.






Tom is teaching tenth grade World Geography and ninth grade World History. He is looking forward to finally getting a true taste of what the teaching profession actually looks like as well as being able to help all these students learn about history and being good citizens. He is also excited to share those experiences with all who will read this blog.

Sara is teaching sixth grade Early American History. She is mostly looking forward to working with her students all the time!

Kyle is teaching ninth grade English and twelfth grade AP Literature and Language. He is most looking forward to beginning his professional career, which in the case of teaching is improving the lives and futures of children.




Johnny Mac is teaching eleventh grade AP U.S. history, the social studies portion of eleventh grade Advanced American Studies, and Law and Society for students in grades 10-12. He is co-teaching the American Studies class with Bex. Johnny Mac is most looking forward to being a good thief and finding a lot of resources related to his content area to expand his repertoire during student teaching.

Bex is teaching AP English Humanities Enhanced and co-teaching Advanced American Studies with Johnny Mac. It has been a long journey to this point, and she is excited to finally be in the classroom. She is most looking forward to getting to know her students better and learning how to best teach them. Bex is eager to explore different areas of teaching and to hone her skills so she can become an awesome English teacher.

Clifton is teaching eleventh grade US History, IB twelth grade Geography, and IB eleventh grade History of America. He is most looking forward to teaching students with different skills and abilities while trying to meet their needs.