My current placement, Del Norte, is on a trimester system. Last week brought the beginning of a new trimester along with a new cooperating teacher for me. I learned so much from my last cooperating teacher. I highly appreciated his routine 'think aloud" he provided for me so as to let me enter his thought process and reasoning for making all of the various pedagogical decisions he made on a near minute-by-minute basis. I also learned so much from him in terms of student-led discussion, teacher-led discussion, classroom management, group quizzes, and the list goes on and on. Fortunately, my new cooperating teacher is directly next door to my last cooperating teacher's classroom so we can stay in touch! My new cooperating teacher is equally as awesome! Her students and I highly appreciate the structure and organization of her classroom along with her structured consistency and daily routines. Yet there also seems to be a perfect balance of allowing the students to anticipate what they are expected to do as soon as class begins every day and knowing where to find the homework assignments and past in-class assignments, and mixing up the modalities of instruction in such a way that keeps all the students on their toes, thereby raising the level of classroom engagement and enthusiasm.
I am also continuing to teach my fantastic group of Chinese students every morning who are now in Chinese 8. Their Chinese teacher is such an asset to the school. He has single-handedly developed their Chinese program from scratch, and he now has classes in place from beginning-level Chinese up to AP Chinese. He has done this by himself with no external support (with the exception of my support every morning in Chinese 8). I am so impressed with the level of differentiation he provides as well as the extremely well selected group of texts that he has chosen for his students. Not only are they developmentally appropriate and accessible, but they also stretch and challenge the students' level of vocabulary, cultural awareness, and depth of Chinese literature.
What an awesome opportunity to work along side such wonderful mentors. I highly look forward to the new challenges and opportunities that await me at Del Norte!
I am also continuing to teach my fantastic group of Chinese students every morning who are now in Chinese 8. Their Chinese teacher is such an asset to the school. He has single-handedly developed their Chinese program from scratch, and he now has classes in place from beginning-level Chinese up to AP Chinese. He has done this by himself with no external support (with the exception of my support every morning in Chinese 8). I am so impressed with the level of differentiation he provides as well as the extremely well selected group of texts that he has chosen for his students. Not only are they developmentally appropriate and accessible, but they also stretch and challenge the students' level of vocabulary, cultural awareness, and depth of Chinese literature.
What an awesome opportunity to work along side such wonderful mentors. I highly look forward to the new challenges and opportunities that await me at Del Norte!