Immediately, I felt like it is too early to give a model essay to the students since this test has barely been administered yet and instructors & tutors alike are trying to figure out just how to approach the test. Plus, she does not yet know enough about the test to know whether her model essay is actually "model". And of course, according to one of the supervisors at my WC who is by the way a certified scorer of the test, did not feel like there was sufficient integration of the article inside the essay.
However, my real problem with her approach to the lessons was why start with the "supporting details" of the essay when half of the students in this class do not yet know how to summarize? I would think that ok maybe you want to give them your "model" introduction and take it apart with the class and figure out what elements are used. But I would think to ask the students, ok now that you have seen the model, do one on your own. Isn't that the simple pedagogy any teacher would use? So what was the use of giving them a model if they won't be tested on their understanding of it? One can argue, well yes, they are going to reproduce their own "support" of the thesis of the model essay but...it just makes so much more sense to me to first teach them how to summarize. Then, teach them how to PULL OUT a "significant" idea from the text which most students seem to have trouble with. Then, work on putting that together inside the introduction. And only THEN work on learning how to use outside information to support the thesis. Am I totally off here?
All I'm thinking at this point is how last semester the idea of starting to teach after 2 semesters was insane to me and now, after a semester & internship in the summer, all I'm thinking is, I want to start teaching my own class already!
So funny! Of course you want to take over. It's like sitting next to the person driving a car: I always feel that I could do a MUCH better job of it, without terrifying whoever may be sitting next to me. But regardless of the driver's errors, I always arrive at the destination safely.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what your relationship with your co-teacher is, but do the two of you have opportunities to discuss her choices as she designs lessons and works through her curriculum for the semester? Such a discussion could reveal quite a bit of interesting stuff for any prospective comp teacher.
We do discuss her choices as she designs lessons, and she is actually very flexible about her decisions. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely respect her and look up to her in many ways. In fact, this is why I feel like it is such a conflict for me. After I mentioned my concerns to her, she agreed about some things but just said that later on we could do more summaries and etc. So, I don't want to come off as someone who is trying to take over (though sometimes that's all I want to do). I don't know where to actually draw the line. We have a really good relationship actually and I don't want to ruin that; I just don't know how to tell her more I already have what she's doing is questionable or not. I guess the best way to look at it is the driving example!
ReplyDeleteMahla, that sounds a little frustrating, but also like a big opportunity to learn what works and what doesn't. When you're on your own, you'll be awesome :)
ReplyDelete