Autonomy. It is one of the best predictors of happiness and success in one's career. However, as a student teacher, the goal is typically not to be autonomous. The goal is to observe the "pros"- watch, take notes and essentially mimic the lesson for some time. My year was no exception. My master teacher was a nothing short of an expert, as well as a self-proclaimed "control freak", unwilling to release control until after high-stakes testing. I can't say I was totally upset about this either. I did not have to lesson plan each night, and I was pretty good at replicating her third period lessons during sixth period.
I continued this pattern of observing and replicating for quite some time. In the beginning, successful lessons felt good. They felt like a personal win. But quickly, teaching became routine and boring. I couldn't take credit for a good lesson, and I could share the blame for a bad lesson. Everything felt routine and my teaching felt unauthentic, even though it was producing good results. I began to question if this was really even a passion of mine anymore. And then a bomb dropped.
May came quickly and testing was in the past. Before I knew it I was in charge of all planning and instruction for not one, but two different courses. I almost died. No, really. But something great happened during this time. I stopped observing and started really teaching.
I taught lessons I created, with strategies that I chose, asking questions that I came up with, and responded to students with my own words. Not every lesson was a success, but I found myself reflecting on what I did and adjusting for the future. And on the days that I could see, hear and feel the learning happening, I finally felt the joy of teaching.
During this time, I experienced some degree of autonomy and freedom for creativity and experimentation, and it felt really freaking good. It was the same joy I felt when discovering mathematics during college and when I was able to connect it to students during my tutoring experience. This autonomy made me excited to have my own classroom one day.
I do not tell this story so that we can compare what our student teaching years were like. I am sure that some of you experienced this autonomy from day one. I tell this story because autonomy is not just important in teaching, but is an equally important part of learning.
As teachers, we must ask ourselves, how are we providing students opportunities to take ownership of the material? Opportunities to try, to make mistakes, to correct their errors, to connect to the material creatively, and to keep persevering until success is achieved. When we can truly do this, we are not just teaching content, but empowering students and preparing them for life.
I continued this pattern of observing and replicating for quite some time. In the beginning, successful lessons felt good. They felt like a personal win. But quickly, teaching became routine and boring. I couldn't take credit for a good lesson, and I could share the blame for a bad lesson. Everything felt routine and my teaching felt unauthentic, even though it was producing good results. I began to question if this was really even a passion of mine anymore. And then a bomb dropped.
May came quickly and testing was in the past. Before I knew it I was in charge of all planning and instruction for not one, but two different courses. I almost died. No, really. But something great happened during this time. I stopped observing and started really teaching.
I taught lessons I created, with strategies that I chose, asking questions that I came up with, and responded to students with my own words. Not every lesson was a success, but I found myself reflecting on what I did and adjusting for the future. And on the days that I could see, hear and feel the learning happening, I finally felt the joy of teaching.
During this time, I experienced some degree of autonomy and freedom for creativity and experimentation, and it felt really freaking good. It was the same joy I felt when discovering mathematics during college and when I was able to connect it to students during my tutoring experience. This autonomy made me excited to have my own classroom one day.
I do not tell this story so that we can compare what our student teaching years were like. I am sure that some of you experienced this autonomy from day one. I tell this story because autonomy is not just important in teaching, but is an equally important part of learning.
As teachers, we must ask ourselves, how are we providing students opportunities to take ownership of the material? Opportunities to try, to make mistakes, to correct their errors, to connect to the material creatively, and to keep persevering until success is achieved. When we can truly do this, we are not just teaching content, but empowering students and preparing them for life.
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