Mista, mista!

At this point, I feel obligated to post, only because it is the end of my first week of field training.  I am completely exhausted and would rather be sleeping than typing, but I think this is worth my time.  

First, I will say that field training has been a wonderfully positive experience.  I am also thrilled to say that I thoroughly enjoy it.  I haven't really ever worked with kids in a truly authoritative capacity, so this is an entirely new experience.

The Asst. Principal who met me at my school was very friendly and supportive.  During summer school, there are three periods between roughly 8-1.  For the first, he put me in a Living Environment Lab and the second two are the class portion of Living Environment.  This is wonderful placement because I am seeing both aspects of the class I will be teaching at this school in September.

For the lab, mostly students work in small groups or individually.  After the cooperating teacher gives instructions, I go around to students to help them along through the lab and to address any questions or confusion.  The teacher seems very comfortable in the classroom and also seems like she knows what she's doing.  She just completed her first year and participated in Teach for America (kinda like NYCTF, except national).

For the second two periods, it is a slightly different story.  The teacher does pretty much the opposite of what we're being taught to do.  This is not to say that she doesn't care or lacks concern for the students.  It just doesn't seem she goes about addressing that in the right ways.  Ironically, she has been teaching for 12 years.  However, this is a wonderful opportunity for me to contribute.  Obviously, I don't blatantly point out what I think is wrong with her teaching.  Rather I assist students individually or jump in with instruction whenever it seems appropriate.  She explicitly expresses to me that she is so tired of teaching about half way through the class and my input is more than welcome.  I am quite happy to take over for her when she gets fatigued.  

Students are great.  Sure, some of them are talkative and inattentive, but when I address them one on one, they actually have a pretty good head on their shoulders that they know how to use when they try.  In fact, there is even one special education student who was very articulate and demonstrated a clear understanding of what was being taught.  His performance exceeded other students who were not special education.  I was impressed.

I hope these feelings continue, because they are incredibly encouraging and I certainly did not expect to enjoy doing this so much.

One funny anecdote I'll share is about how students often refer to male teachers as "Mista."  Not only am I not a fan of being called "Mista," but I think it would be more appropriate for students to practice more proper and socially acceptable language in the real world, such as "Mr. Maloney." 

"Mista, mista! I gotta question," one girl called to me.  My response to her was "Student, student, what do you need?"  She looked at me as if I had responded in Cantonese.  I explained that she called me by some portion of my title, so I called her what she was.  I continued saying that I preferred that she call me "Mr. Maloney" or "Mr. M."  She found my response funny, but understood what I was getting at, then called me "Mr. Maloney."  I then responded with her first name.  Fair is fair, right?