Thoughts+for+Cherice

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Please be professional and diplomatic in your postings, avoid mentioning particular people, and post your comments anonymously.// //I will use these comments to improve my teaching and to help me think about how to structure our time together next semester. **user:chericem1**//

The things that Cherice does that are most helpful to me are . ..
you are really flexible and want these projects and papers to benefit us in anyway possible. she gives me concrete ideas and activities I can use in class, almost every day that she is easily accessible via email. those things that are real-life oriented. I feel like so much of what we have done in the past has nothing to do with a real day in the classroom. This class is most definitely not like that. concrete ideas and success stories--encouraging us to try things because you know they can be done!

What I really need from Cherice is . ..
How to successfully implement projects for assessment purposes How to teach grammar concepts, and not rules. More deadlines in terms of assignments, instead of all of them due at the end of the semester. Se above. I appreciate the flexibility, but sometimes my procrastination gets the best of me and then I feel as if I'm sinking when everything is due at the exact same time. Completely aside from this class, my 801 is set up the same way so I'm feeling as if I'm drowning right now. Examples of assignments earlier in the semester before we start working on them. Grammar taught within a context...a demo or ideas would be very helpful!

I wish Cherice understood . ..
that maybe the class would be less stressed if the assignments were each due at different points in the semester instead of all at once that not everyone wants to hear about mentor problems each week! I second that...we all have our issues, and I think you've given us enough guidance on how to deal with them! In Cherice's defense, I think the class can sometimes take this conversation too far (I am probably one of those people) so I think she does her best to re-focus everyone after we go off on tangents.

If our time for this discussion is limited, on what 3 issues would you recommend that we focus our attention?
Classroom management Concrete activities or lessons How to teach 80-100% in the TL, from level 1 to level 4.

**Additional Comments for Cherice**
//I will copy your comments from the section below and forward them to the appropriate program leaders, so please phrase your thoughts professionally and diplomatically.//

The things that MSU/the program does that are most helpful to me are . ..
sets up a placement for me. gives me tons of options of who to talk to, if a problem or situation arises. Lots of flexibility in the program. the gradual program- I'm so glad I didn't have to teach all classes from day one.

What I really need from MSU is . ..
To focus on the concrete everyday management and teaching problems during 800 level classes, and NOT on research, because I am too involved in developing successful lessons and classroom management issues to appreciate research based findings. To follow up on the above comment, in th 407-8 classes we need more practical examples and experiences and less theory!

I wish MSU understood . ..
That not only are the student teachers paying a blended graduate student rate for tuition of 24 total credits, we are required to pay for gas not only to Michigan State every Friday but also to our schools daily which can be anywhere from a half hour to an hour and a half away (without traffic). Of course, on top of all this, the internship is so demanding that there is no time to hold a "second" job and put total effort into the both.

I second that... I also have personally spent money from my own pocket to improve the quality of my lessons. At least parking on Fridays should be free!

How to revamp the program to make it more accommodating for the student teacher, whether it be having classes at the extension campus in Birmingham for Detroiters, and/or creating a new schedule for our classes so that we are not missing out on Fridays at our placements. I also 2nd the concern regarding the enormous expenses incurred over the course of the year.

Research is great, and one day I hope to read it, understand it, and maybe do some of my own, but right now, I am trying to "survive" and I need more ideas and concrete examples on how to engage the students, and not articles on the average percentage of time students are engaged in any given class.

That while a year of internship sounds and looks great on paper student teachers tend to get burned out before the end of the first semester. Unfortunately, we've seen and experienced too many of the lows to look forward to the highs that may come when we have our own classroom. That being said, maybe they should rethink the structure and length of the year from 1 year to 1 semester. Due to the fact that MSU has placed us in so many classrooms over the course of our undergrad we really DO have more experience when we come into the internship than they may even realize.

There needs to be more communication with the mentor teachers about their responsibilities in mentoring the interns BEFORE the school year and internship begins. Unfortunately, it puts the intern in an uncomfortable and sometimes unprofessional position where we have to speak on behalf of the University about things that we ourselves have no clear cut answer for. This meeting should be required to attend in order to continue with the mentorship and should not be dependent on whether or not the mentor had a student teacher in the past. This may present a problem for MSU in reassigning placements but it will weed out those teachers who may have thought they would have the time to mentor a student teacher but do not.

There needs to be some way where a student teacher can earn some type of income. Whether this be shortening the internship year so that there is time for a intern to accept a substitute teaching position or some other option this is absolutely imperative. I think MSU doesn't take into account that some students are away from home and need to find places to live in order to complete their teaching certificate. Most of these places require a form of income which none of us have at this point in time. I'm sure this is something that many of the student teachers are concerned about.

Given that we are taking classes at MSU while we teach during our internship, we miss 10 days per semester. For those on a traditional schedule, this is only 1/5 of the time that they see their kids. However, those that teach on a block are at a disadvantage. For my particular placement, the only Spanish 1 class in my schedule meets Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. So when I go to MSU 10 times next semester, I will be missing 1 out of 3 days that we meet. It is a lot harder for me to gain their respect, their interest and set up a rountine and establish a good classroom management system if I only see them 2x a week. I know that others are in block schedules that may work differently,but others may be in a similiar situation as well.

The assignments for our classes need to be more applicable to the situations we are in. Unit planning makes sense, weekly writing on random topics that do not. We don't have time to give our classes a lot of effort because we are busy enough with planning and teaching. I think it is unrealistic to ask us to write a paper about who we are as teachers, who we were as students, etc. when we know that we have to be ready for the next day in the classroom because we are accountable for those students, so our classwork often takes a back burner. The things we are supposed to do are excellent in theory but they don't always come when we need them to, which makes the internship just that much more stressful!