Lily: Student Teacher
Name: Lily Gerard
Age: 20
Academic background: Lily is currently working toward completion of a Bachelor of Education with a major in Math and a minor in Second Languages.
Teaching experience: This is Lily’s first classroom teaching experience, but she has worked with her local youth group for three years and done a lot of volunteering with children in her community.
Other background info: Lily went to an immersion language school for all of her elementary and secondary education and has completed the language requirements for her minor in University.
Current teaching experience: Lily is currently enrolled in her first practical teaching experience, at a local junior high school.
Lily's Reflections
Reflection |
Timeline |
Summary |
| Reflection 1: Not What I Expected | Week one of first teaching practicum |
Lily reflects on the first week of her first teaching practicum and expresses some challenges she has faced. |
| Reflection 2: Hopeless and Useless | Week three of first teaching practicum | Lily is experiencing ups and downs in her practicum and is questioning herself and her abilities. |
| Reflection 3: To teach or not to teach... | Last week of first teaching practicum | Lily finishes her practicum with big decisions to make. |
Read through Lily's reflections to find out more about some of the challenges she is facing in the classroom. Click on any of the highlighted areas to find out more about that issue from Dr. B!
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Lily mentions that she has been observing her mentor teacher. In your opinion is observation an important part of the teaching process? Why or why not?
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Like many beginning teachers, one of Lily’s biggest anxieties is classroom management. Is classroom management in a SL/FL classroom the same as in other subjects or are there differences of which to be aware? What might these differences be?
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Lily talks briefly about using a seating plan. Brainstorm some different seating plans that you have seen and think about which ones may be best in the SL/FL classroom.
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Lily mentions that her teacher uses individual seatwork with his students; is this type of work valuable in a SL/FL classroom? What other options are there for structuring activities?
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Lily notices that the students do not interact with the material. What could the teacher do to encourage interaction? How does this relate to B-SLIM?
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Lily also mentions that she did not provide enough support for her students during a pair work activity. What kind of support might she be able to offer in the future to better facilitate student learning?
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Lily is concerned with how much the class atmosphere can change from one day to another; what factors could be affecting this change? Do you think Lily is responsible for these changes?
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Lily believes that some of the class problems relate back to her mentor teacher and his teaching style. What are some of the challenges that can arise when taking charge of someone else’s class?
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How can Lily overcome the difficulties that come from taking someone else’s class?
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Lily and her teacher do a debriefing most days after her lessons; what things could they be talking about?
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Lily needs a lot of energy to create good lessons; will this get easier as she develops as a teacher? In what way?
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Lily is clearly experiencing some burnout; how common is this in the teacher profession? Why do you think this is?
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Lily feels like she is just surviving from day to day; what could she do to revitalize herself? What tools are helping her survive?
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Lily feels very alone and that many in the teaching profession won’t understand? Why does she feel this way? Who can she turn to?