Skip to main content

Never Stop Learning

I knew that firecracker of a student teacher was filming his lesson today so I stopped by in the afternoon to see how things were going. His cooperating teacher was so proud and upbeat. We talked briefly about how providing this kind of experience is a form of professional development to BOTH individuals. Watching someone else work through the same tasks you are working through allows you different viewpoints. It presents additional options and opportunities for reflection. The cooperating teacher was remarking how much HE learned about lesson delivery today.

I feel the same way about having an intern. For the better part of this year, I am sharing an entire building with her. She gets to see me celebrate successes, work through difficult occasions, and attempt to balance the myriad of needs within our space. She's seen me do well and she's seen me handle some things poorly. I look forward to her help each day. In fact, I'm not sure what I'll do next year when she is likely off being a rock star administrator somewhere. 

I've been able to let go of some tasks and allow her to "take 'em and run"

That letting go requires a certain amount of trust, doesn't it?

From both of us and in both of us.

What is the best lesson you've learned through supervising a student teacher or an intern?

Poster by Karen Aulman
Words and Idea for 

Comments

  1. It's rejuvenating to see and feel a student teacher's enthusiasm for teaching and reminds me that I need to keep that same enthusiasm to be an effective teacher. My current students deserve it as much as the former ones did!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Something about March

Our work in school leadership can often come in waves. Some days you are happily swimming to shore while other days you might feel as though it is taking all of your energy to stay above the water.  The latter is often what March feels like.  There is something about March that has always felt like a difficult month for me, at least personally, as an educator. Maybe it's the impact of a long winter, access to less sunshine, or the absence of any scheduled downtime in the month. It's also the point where we are able to look back on a school year and see how much we have accomplished but at the same turn how much there is still to do.  But, the difference is the proverbial finish line that June brings. We all know, whether we like it or not, what we planned or were even assigned to accomplish this year is now connected to an imaginary stopwatch that is counting down that time. We can see the end to the year and that can be stressful.  What about all the things still le...

Growth Mindset

This will be a quick post likely full of errors and incomplete sentences. But, I feel a pressing need to get these thoughts to paper while: a) I have time  and b) I can still remember the pieces I want to connect I was given a great opportunity to work with Dr. Shawn Hunziker today. We've conducted some online book studies around Mindset by Carol Dweck. This past winter, we were invited to give a keynote to CSE Chairpersons ( BIG TIME for us) and that led to today's session with CNYSEA's Summer Institute .  On my way to the session, I was rehearsing notes (as I always do, see previous post ). At a stop sign near the venue where the conference was held, I pulled up in back of a car and noticed the neatest license plate: NEVRQT* I think that's how it was spelled. I tried to grab a picture but realized how creepy that would look and did not reshoot the blurry image I captured. When I arrived at the conference, I immediately told my partner, Sh...

My one word: Courage

I am part of an amazing voxer group of MS Principals and Jay Posick became a recent member of that group. Talk about a man with the right mindset. Recently, he posted a link about a one word challenge and it got me thinking. I've been struggling with the idea of a "new year" and the (self-imposed) push to set some resolutions. I don't like the idea of setting resolutions. They feel too artificial for me. Maybe that's because I've failed at them before. But, what I can commit and buy into is this idea of one word . I think my word is COURAGE.  It's funny when I typed out that sentence, I couldn't get around the phrase "I think". The way I crafted that sentence speaks to why I have chosen the word courage to help guide me in this new year. I need courage to continue to take risks and nurture creative ideas. I need courage to finally do some things I have been postponing (some for just 30 years or so) and set to accomplishing them or...