First, I would like to say it’s been a pleasure having Mr. Patterson as a coach as I work my way through my first year of teaching. After our first initial SWOT analysis of my teaching and students, I definitely needed the support and mentoring of others. I found myself struggling like many first year teachers in lesson planning and classroom management. Mr. Patterson made me aware of different strategies in regards to classroom management. One strategy is to take on different roles according to my students’ needs and requirements of various activities. I am able to be the resource person, the mediator, the supervisor, or the provider of extra support when students’ are not actively participating.
When I first began teaching, I was ambitious but I found myself thinking about lessons through the lenses of a teacher’s point of view. I found myself in the center of the action, directing everything. Mr. Patterson explained to me a strategy that he learned during his first year to look at teaching through the learner’s point of view. I have come to the reality that my students benefit most by me focusing on what they as learners are doing and what is happening in their minds especially as I plan my lessons. This experience has helped me see that it is ok if I am not in the center all the time, if I just walk around and help learners during group-work, or if I am not busy at all, because they do not need me for some time. At first I worried about such times in a lesson –but now I see that actually this is an important phase and I can relax in this new role as a resource person who is only active when needed. I can only guess what my role as mediator in the classroom might be. I have seen my mentoring interfere a few times when groups of children were fighting or insulting one another however, I guess this is another role that is not directly related to the teaching of the language but it is also important so students feel taken seriously and feel comfortable in class. If someone is treated badly or excluded, they cannot learn well because these personal issues get in the way.
Mr. Patterson also encouraged me to use my resources more efficiently. We designed a syllabus for my classroom that I will use next year to provide my students with a blueprint of what Manley Career Academy Freshman Seminar is all about. I learned little small things as well. I have to design the handouts very carefully. They should be structured clearly so that my students can use them easily and effectively. I’ve also learned that I should always make a good master copy that I can keep for later use. Therefore, I have to put a lot of effort into the materials because the students should see that I do my work in a responsible way. As a consequence, they should handle their own work in a responsible way as well. Mr. Patterson also reminded me that teaching materials such as paper for specific exercises should be printed on good paper so that the learners can use them effectively (thin paper might tear). In that way I can also use them again (I have to make sure to get them back after the activity). It is also clever to laminate cards that will be used often.
As you can see, I am benefiting from these coaching session provided by Mr. Patterson. I am aware of his project to get more teacher collaboration so I am happy to discuss the various conversation we had that has benefited me in the classroom.
Max
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