Teaching Teachers

I had the opportunity to co-teach a math methods class for pre-service teachers this summer, and I loved it!  My co-instructor, who was the primary instructor for the course, is a fellow doctoral student.  She is further along than I am - she is at the dissertation stage of the program - and I learned a ton from her about teaching at this level.  What an amazing mentor!

I have missed teaching SO much over the past two years, and working with interns who are studying to be teachers, who are excited about becoming teachers, and who have an enthusiasm that is contagious was fabulous.  And I am not going to lie…when I received the first email of my life that began with “Dear Professor,” I was ridiculously excited.

The schedule of the course was great – we had two weeks on campus, two weeks at a school site working with children, and two weeks back on campus.  This allowed the interns the chance to plan and deliver individual, small-group, and large-group lessons and work collaboratively with their peers.  Over the six weeks, we covered both math content and math pedagogy, and the conversations were rich and enlightening.

Even though the fall semester is right around the corner and I will return to my role of student, I am sure this will not be my last foray into the world of teaching adults.  I am somewhat surprised by how much I enjoyed it, because I have always defined myself as an elementary teacher.  Perhaps it was being able to share my passion for teaching with others who are choosing this career that hit home for me.  Our class discussions allowed us to speak at length about what it means to be a teacher and about how critical it is to build relationships with students in addition to all of the academic responsibilities.  I tried to encourage them when they were feeling overwhelmed and support them as they enter a field that is undervalued in every sense of the word.

I love being a teacher, and so it makes sense that I love working with teachers!  I asked the interns to provide some feedback so that I can improve, and their comments made me feel like I am definitely on the right path.  I am already looking forward to my next teaching opportunity!

I emailed a “positive thought” to the interns after every class – thank you, Pinterest!  I thought my fellow teachers might like to see them as well to be reminded of how amazing they are as the new school year approaches!

Happy Tails to you!