In additon to more preservice time, I believe new teachers need a longer
probationary period. In California, teachers are tenured on the first day of
their third year of service. That means they only get 2 years to be
probationary teachers--actually less because administrators must decide by
April of the second year whether to retain these teachers. I've seen
teachers with excellent potential be let go; many of them were finishing
their schooling during their first two years of teaching so they were really
overwhelmed, but motivated. (I've also had student teachers who had night
jobs to pay the bills which makes it very hard for them to spend the
necessary time planning and reflecting.)
I guess my point is that the system makes it hard for new teachers to
experiment, fail, learn,and grow professionally. Our district's Beginning
Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) is very good, but it would be even
better if these new teachers got daily mentoring and were not expected to
"sink or swim" in their own classrooms instead of working in an
apprenticeship situation. Actually, this goes for any teacher in need of
support. There is just no flexibility in this job, allowing for honesty
about failure and sincerity in seeking help.
Carol
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carol Meyer" <schoolteacher52...@yahoo.com>
I think that pre-service teachers need to spend an entire year in a class
room start to finish to get an idea of what it's all about. Spending 8 weeks
in this or that classroom, designing lessons for a subject or two never
prepare you for the actual reality that hits you when you get your first
classroom. If they had that year to see the classroom advance and take notes
I think it would be very helpful. Carol M
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