“The most basic purpose of both supervision and evaluation is to enhance the educational experiences and learning of all students” (Nolan & Hoover, 2011). This means that the goal of pre-service teacher education is to educate the pre-service teacher, and simultaneously, the CT and the students in the classroom. As I plan and co-teach with my residents, I must emphasize the needs of the students and how I can best meet the needs of my pre-service teacher in a way that will allow them best support the needs of their students. The three most important things that I want my students to learn from me are:
- Never stop questioning. Ask questions, seek answers, and apply those answers to improve your teaching.
- Formative assessments can be used to collect data on student understanding; this data can be used to make instructional decisions that best meet student needs.
- Technology doesn’t teach kids. Good teachers can use technology to enhance and extend learning while motivating and engaging students.
“Teachers differ in terms of preferred learning styles, levels of motivation, cognitive abilities and personal lives” (Nolan & Hoover, 2011). It is my job as the supervisor to work with my pre-service teachers to identify and meet their individual needs. Teachers show their learning when they make changes to their practice. Teacher should learn about technology integration because students in today’s classrooms are “digital natives” who grew up with technology and expect to use it for communication in school (Prensky, 2001). Many of our pre-service teachers may be familiar with popular communication technologies, but may need help adapting their teaching style (Sweeny, 2010). Technology offers opportunities for collaboration, increases motivation (Sweeny, 2010) and engagement, and makes learning more meaningful (Dredger, Woods, Beach, & Sagstetter, 2010).
I expect my pre-service teachers to strive to be the best teachers they can be by engaging in professional development, reflecting on their teaching, and by asking for help when needed. I hope that my pre-service teachers will be life long learners and continuously be looking for ways to enhance their instruction and meet the diverse needs of their students. If I had the power to change one thing about my pre-service teachers, it would be the perceived barriers they bring to the classroom in regard to integrating technology into the curriculum. These perceived barriers include perceptions of the usefulness of certain technology tools and feelings about the technology. Five years after my students have left the classroom, I want them to say that I taught them how to integrate technology independently. I want them to know how to plan and integrate technology infuse lessons throughout the curriculum in meaningful ways. I also want them to know how to problem solve when they have technical difficulties so they do not have to rely on another person to fix the problem when time permits.
Five years after they have finished their final internship, I want my students to remember that I took the time to get to know them personally. I want them to know how important it is to know each individual student in order to effectively meet their needs. I also want them to remember the sense of community they felt in their courses. I want them to understand how important classroom community is and the impact it has on behavior management and collaboration in the classroom. I want my students to say that technology is important in the daily teaching and learning that occurs in their classrooms. I want them to say that they are integrating technology in transformational ways to provide opportunities for higher order learning activities. I hope that my students will say that the curriculum offers the opportunity for students to have wonderings and engage in investigations to discover new information.
I am the university supervisor and technology coach for the pre-service teachers I support. My students have access to technology at all times in their classrooms. I provide them with opportunities for trainings and professional development on the technology. I also co-plan and co-teach with them using the technology. I am also available for tech support if needed. The context influences my teaching because we have access to technology at all times when we are planning and teaching. It is my goal to support them in regard to technology integration enough during their final internship that they can independently integrate technology and troubleshoot technology in their own classrooms. I also hope that my pre-service teachers will have enough knowledge to support and mentor their peers when it comes to technology integration. Currently, I feel that the current context of education does not support technology integration because so much emphasis is placed on teaching to the standards and preparing students for standardized testing. It is my job to show my pre-service teachers and their CTs that technology can be used to teach the content addressed in the standards and prepare students for the real world by providing them with critical thinking and higher order thinking skills.
I know that I have taught a really good lesson when my pre-service teachers are able to apply the concepts to their own teaching. When we are co-teaching, I know we have taught a good lesson when the students are engaged and participating in the lesson. During a good lesson, there are fewer behavior problems because the students are engaged and actively participating in the lesson. They are especially engaged when they are the ones using the technology. I know that I have taught a poor lesson when my pre-service teachers are not able to implement the concept into their own teaching. When we are co-teaching, poor lessons are less engaging and often result in behavior problems from our students.
Dredger, K., Woods, D., Beach, C., & Sagstetter, V. (2010). Engage me: Using new literacies to create third space classrooms that engage student writers. Journal of Media Literacy Education, 2(2), 85-101.
Florida Center for Instructional Technology. (2011). The Technology Intergtation Matrix. Retrieved from www.fcit.usf.edu/matrix
Nolan, J. F. & Hoover, L. A. (2011). Teacher supervision and evaluation. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5).
Sweeny, S. M. (2010). Writing for the instant messaging and text messaging generation: Using new literacies to support writing instruction. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 54(2), 121-130.