I’ve committed a grave injustice by not updating y’all on my experience at the MTC summer school in Holly Springs. For the past week I’ve been here under the direction of Joseph Sweeney, an alumnus of the Teacher Corps. Last year he was a language instructor in Japan, and now he makes an excellent example of what (I think) an administrator should be striving for. My praise doesn’t mean much on his behalf, I being so inexperienced on this side of things, but I can tell that his efforts are making this school work for both the students and the novice teachers. No joke: anyone who can cater to vegan teachers by making fresh bread (oil and soy-milk instead of butter and cow-milk) in the morning gets a medal of honor in my book, not because I think vegan diets are good but because I can tell that Joe is willing to go an extra mile for his faculty.
The summer school is a rare place. It functions as a kind of test site for the teachers in the MTC program. It is a genuine summer school, where kids sign up to take classes they failed or missed or need for some other reason. The difference between this school and another is that, for example, in the US History classroom there are seven teachers and one student, and in Biology I there are six teachers and five students. They alternate lessons. For the first-years, this is a very good system, because it gives them an opportunity to relax (a little) while they write up and deliver their very first lesson plans. Remember that these folks are not trained in education from their undergraduate schools, so they have all the hard stuff slammed in their face at once. The second-years and other first-years can support each other and dialogue about their work. And anyway, being underprepared with a group of people is way better than being underprepared alone!
My job is simple enough. I sit at the desk near the entrance and wait for Joe to tell me stuff. Often, teachers will walk by and ask me questions that I cannot answer, so I point them to Joe and make him (try to) reason with them. I also ring the period-bells. Joe wasn’t kidding when he said it was the most important job in the school. I am the one who holds the power to release students into the freedom of the hallway, a power that could wreak havoc in the whole school if abused. Works for me.
I might share some insights later, but this update will have to suffice for the time being. Toodles.
The summer school is a rare place. It functions as a kind of test site for the teachers in the MTC program. It is a genuine summer school, where kids sign up to take classes they failed or missed or need for some other reason. The difference between this school and another is that, for example, in the US History classroom there are seven teachers and one student, and in Biology I there are six teachers and five students. They alternate lessons. For the first-years, this is a very good system, because it gives them an opportunity to relax (a little) while they write up and deliver their very first lesson plans. Remember that these folks are not trained in education from their undergraduate schools, so they have all the hard stuff slammed in their face at once. The second-years and other first-years can support each other and dialogue about their work. And anyway, being underprepared with a group of people is way better than being underprepared alone!
My job is simple enough. I sit at the desk near the entrance and wait for Joe to tell me stuff. Often, teachers will walk by and ask me questions that I cannot answer, so I point them to Joe and make him (try to) reason with them. I also ring the period-bells. Joe wasn’t kidding when he said it was the most important job in the school. I am the one who holds the power to release students into the freedom of the hallway, a power that could wreak havoc in the whole school if abused. Works for me.
I might share some insights later, but this update will have to suffice for the time being. Toodles.
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