Latest / New Teacher Talk / Ep 144: Embracing Bold Teaching: Lessons from Student Teaching to First-Year Ready

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Ep 144: Embracing Bold Teaching: Lessons from Student Teaching to First-Year Ready · New Teacher Talk

Welcome to New Teacher Talk where we support educators just
starting their journey into the classroom.
I'm Dr.
Anna,
and today I'm excited to share a conversation with someone
very special to me, Emma Moore.
Emma is part of the Teaching Well Program at Johns Hopkins
University where she just completed her student teaching
internship.
Over the past six months,
I've had the privilege of serving as her mentor through E
difying Teachers.
In our conversation,
Emma is going to share some incredible insights about her
journey.
Whether you're a new teacher yourself, a mentor,
or someone passionate about education,
Emma's perspective will resonate with you.
Let's dive in.
Tell our listeners a bit about yourself, Emma.
Hello everybody,
I am more than honored to be here and to share my journey
with you guys a little bit.
So I am from just outside of Atlanta, Georgia.
I was raised there,
been in the same house just about 20 years.
I did my undergraduate at the University of Colorado
Boulder.
Once I graduated from there,
I took a couple years off of school and enjoyed my life a
little bit and then got back into school and into teaching
at Johns Hopkins University.
I will finish in July.
So what drew you to teaching in the first place, Emma?
So I have always had this natural passion to teach,
but I never intended on pursuing it because I always
thought that I wanted to go into medicine.
As I was on this journey to go to PA school to be a
physician's assistant,
I needed some type of supplemental income to get a job and
support myself.
I actually got a job working in a kindergarten classroom as
a teacher's assistant or an aide,
and it absolutely changed my life.
I was drawn to the curiosity and optimism of children,
and I knew that this is where I belonged.
And honestly,
it's thanks to my two-head teachers in that kindergarten
classroom who made it possible for me to pursue my dreams.
Without their support and trust and guidance,
I don't know if I would have ever taken that leap.
That is so amazing,
you could be in an office helping someone with their
illnesses today.
I know!
Isn't that crazy?
And since you've been a student teacher over the past
semester,
how has student teaching confirmed or changed your reasons
for becoming a teacher?
It really confirmed it more than anything and even more so
since I went from a charter school in the suburbs to a
public school in an urban setting.
But it also changed my understanding of why I chose the
profession in the first place.
I have learned that I want to go into teaching because I
want to make science meaningful and accessible,
and I realized that wasn't always possible,
especially for students who may not see themselves
reflected in it historically.
Good teaching isn't just about delivering the content,
it's about building those relationships,
understanding who is in the room and being,
when I say relentlessly, I mean relentlessly reflective.
That is so important in your first year teaching,
and all of that was really enforced in my first year.
Reflection is such an important skill to have,
a disposition that you need to be able to look and really
see yourself.
Was this really what they needed?
What do I need to do so that I really see them so well?
Yeah, absolutely.
And I hated it at first, and now I reflect on my own,
and I'm like, this is incredible.
That is too funny.
What is the most important thing that you've learned about
working with students and about managing a classroom
through your experiences with your kindergarteners and with
your middle school science students during student
teaching?
Yeah absolutely.
So I actually love this question because it gets asked all
the time in interviews and it can be very very daunting,
right, w
hen someone is questioning your classroom management.
But for me,
building relationships with your students and establishing
a classroom culture is so important.
Students should feel safe in multiple realms of the
classroom,
not just physically but mentally and emotionally.
This includes things like setting expectations,
establishing who you are as a teacher,
and clear and open communication.
In my opinion, students crave routine and consistency,
and when they're able to come into the classroom every
single day expecting exactly what will happen,
maybe not in terms of content but in terms of, you know,
the routines and the transitions,
it makes for a classroom that runs pretty smoothly,
and as we know having a positive classroom enhances not
only engagement but achievement.
The less time you spend redirecting,
the more time you have to teach the content,
and what comes along with this is ensuring that students
feel respected and understood,
because if respect and expectations are not there,
you might as well throw the behavior plan out the window.
I used to think that classroom management was about
controlling the room, right?
We always hear about making sure that students are
listening and in their seats and seated,
but I've come to discover that it's about co-creating a
learning environment where every party involved has a
voice.
Voice is so important for students.
They want to be heard just as teachers also want to be able
to express their interests and what drives their passion
for teaching.
You talked about routines,
and sometimes you think that maybe a routine is boring.
We don't want it to be the same every day,
but I loved what you said about the fact that the structure
is the same, but the lessons are different.
When students have that sense of routine, they feel safe.
They know what to expect.
They know how things are going to go.
It's predictable for them,
and that's very important in management.
Yeah, and I also think that with all of that said though,
there's a line that you have to have with students, right?
It is hard to not get wrapped up in trying to be their
friend or getting them to like you,
and that's not always going to happen.
At the end of the day,
you are the leader in the room and someone that they are
going to follow,
and so I think that is also really important to kind of
keep in mind.
Mutual respect is maybe the way that I might phrase that.
You want to be respected.
You want to be cared for.
You are human as well.
So you want them to treat you in a way that they would want
to be treated themselves.
Yep, absolutely.
And vice versa.
And so everybody comes to teaching with a different
outlook.
And you might think, oh,
this is how I want my classroom to be.
But how did your teaching philosophy actually evolve during
student teaching,
where you were seeing the sausage being made every day?
Yeah, absolutely.
I think for me I went into it with the idea of the typical
student-centered learning, inquiry-driven lessons,
and culturally responsive teaching.
Now those are still at the very core of who I am and my
teaching philosophy,
but what evolved is how to live those out in the actual
chaos of the classroom.
Student-centered doesn't mean at all giving up structure
and letting the students to run amok and do whatever they
want.
It means for me designing structures that support agency
and voice.
Inquiry isn't just about asking questions or good questions
and then expecting students to answer.
It's about sustaining curiosity that leads them to ask more
questions and want to dive deeper into those.
And culturally responsive teaching,
a term that I feel like we throw around a lot in the
education world,
isn't just a strategy but a lens to look through when
teaching.
It means daily commitment to seeing students for who they
are and constant willingness to self-reflect on our own
parts.
I also put a very high emphasis on creating a space that is
stimulating but also takes into account all of the various
students and learners in the room.
I'm almost positive this will change and continue to change
as I enter the classroom as I always have room for
improvement.
What we're always striving for as educators is to be
lifelong learners and what something looks like,
what your classroom might look like in August.
You're growing with the students,
and so it's going to take on a new face in October.
It's going to look completely different perhaps in
February, but you're still living your same principles.
It's just looking at how that evolves for you and the
relationships with your students throughout.
Yep, absolutely.
And I constantly get asked, you know, well,
how do you do this?
How do you create respect?
How do you create a safe classroom?
And for me, it is so individualized to the students.
It is so...
what is respect for one student is not the same respect for
another student.
And for me,
like it was simply giving a kid a notebook because they
needed to write their thoughts and their feelings down.
And that carried our relationship through the end of the
year.
And that's amazing that you're able to differentiate for
students in that way.
The other piece that I see as important here is that you
are able to also look at students through the lens that
they bring.
You want to take their perspective and really understand
how they might be viewing something you're doing or you're
saying.
And when we can let go of our own egos in that way and
really think about how is what I said landing with the
students?
You need to think,
I need to make sure that I am being thoughtful of them as
well.
Absolutely.
Very, very important.
So as we grow and work in our student teaching especially,
I know that I often would land lessons that I didn't think
were so good in the moment.
But usually what happened for me is that it would bring me
to think, oh my goodness, I need to do something else.
I need to up my game.
So what challenges did you face that might've taught you
the most during your student teaching time?
Um so I love this question also because there is one
situation that sticks out in my mind,
and I don't know why it does so much,
but there was this one day where I corrected a student for
talking while I was teaching,
and it was a spur of the moment, you know, correction,
and then I immediately just went back to my lesson not even
thinking anything of it.
He sat there with such confusion,
and I couldn't understand why because it's like you know we
teach kids to take accountability for their actions.
After class he came to me and he said Miss Moore I wasn't
even talking,
it was the people next to me so I don't know why I got
reprimanded, and he was right.
I had to sit there and reflect on myself once again in that
moment and think you know what,
I saw something and before I questioned what I think I saw
and the reality of what actually happened, I assumed,
and that was not very great for me to do,
and I feel like it becomes too easy to tell kids to just
like be quiet and sit in their seats and assume that you
know what's going on without considering what's actually
going on and so that mistake that I consider a mistake is
going to carry with me as I correct behavior in the
classroom.
Yes,
always knowing what's happening in the classroom is really
important.
It gets back to those eyes in the back of your head.
You need to keep developing those.
Yes, that'll come with time, I'm afraid.
So absolutely it will, they start to sprout.
At some point, probably during your first year there,
you'll get some new eyes in the back of your head.
But one of the other things I wanted to ask you a little
bit about, and you had touched on this previously,
but as a middle school teacher,
you have many sections of students that you see.
That's really different in terms of then someone that might
be a regular elementary school teacher that would have the
same group of students all day.
How do you manage to think about how each one of those
classes has a different vibe?
And how do you make that work for yourself?
So I think of them all as individual actors to a larger
movie almost.
That's kind of how I think about it.
That every person plays their part in the classroom.
Everybody has a role.
Everybody has something they're supposed to be doing.
And we can only form this cohesive movie, if you will,
if every person is doing their job, right?
It becomes difficult sometimes to sit and decipher what is
best for one class and what is best for the other class.
And it is really hard to sit here and think about each of
your classes.
And sometimes I have to accept the fact that,
you know what?
Midway through the day, this lesson is not working.
I need to switch things up a little bit.
So it is very, very different.
And I think managing it is going to come with time,
especially as a first year teacher.
So I'm a little uncertain how to answer just yet,
but I know that the answer will soon come.
It's interesting that you talk about it as a cast in a
movie,
and it's almost like you're having the same play five times
in the day with a different cast for each play.
Same play, just a new cast.
And how do we bring that out in them?
So yeah, that makes a lot of sense, Emma.
So as you're moving into your own classroom in the fall,
what kind of classroom environment do you want to create
for your students?
I feel like I touched on this just a little bit already,
especially when talking about classroom management,
because that is so fundamentally important.
But it needs to be a space where students feel safe.
As I mentioned, communication is open and clear,
and expectations are known to all students.
The one thing I did as a student teacher this year that I
will take with me is establishing these expectations,
not just for the students, but for myself as well,
so that I am held accountable for the things that I am
doing.
I want them to feel safe enough to take risks,
ask questions, be themselves and make mistakes.
Every student should feel a part of this community that
we're going to create.
I also want to create a structured and flexible classroom
rooted in routines that supports independence,
but also creativity.
I want it to be accessible for all learners where everyone
feels like they can succeed.
There is no worse feeling when all hope is lost and you
can't go on and you can't succeed in a classroom,
and I never want my students to ever feel that way.
And then lastly,
fostering engagement and motivation is a very,
very key part of who I am as a teacher.
And I've learned that from you through our conversations
that we've had over the last six months.
You always are thinking about,
what do I do to really get students excited,
to motivate them to learn what it is that sometimes can be
dry?
And so as you have your own classroom,
what kinds of traditions are you hoping to establish to
make that classroom, Ms.
Moore's classroom, just this really special place to be.
The first thing is celebrating small wins.
We often forget about how important small wins are.
They are just as big as the big wins and the large things
that happen.
So things like stickers and snaps and sometimes round of
applause.
I want that to be very well established in the classroom.
I also would love to establish a scientist of the week
because we work in a curriculum that does a lot of labs.
You know, every week it's like, or every day, I should say,
who wants to help and all the hands go up,
and then you feel bad for not choosing on a certain
student.
So having a scientist of the week who helps with labs and
is able to be hands on when it's just a teacher
demonstration would be awesome.
Interactive notebooks is another thing that I am taking
into consideration where it's not just taking notes,
but it's something they can get their hands on.
And it is like tangible for them.
And then the final thing that I kind of came up with is a
picture of all my classes at the end of the year.
And something signed,
whether it be a picture frame this year,
it was my graduation stole so that I can wear it at
graduation.
Anything, just anything signed.
And, that's exciting
because you want to be able to remember those students and
each one of them as somebody that's been in this business
for a really long time,
each one of them holds a little spot in your heart,
and you want to think about them long after they've passed
through your door because it brings back those memories of
special times that you shared.
Yeah, absolutely.
And every student is so important in your heart.
And there are those ones who give you a little bit of
challenges and, you know, they, you know,
push your buttons sometimes, but you always...
every student is so individual to where they are in your
heart.
And you take that with you everywhere you go.
Yes you do and sometimes they don't always know that that
you're still thinking about them long after they've passed
through your doorway for the last time.
Absolutely.
So this is kind of the best part,
you are the expert now because you have completed your
student teaching experience,
and so what would you tell someone that's about ready to
start student teaching in the fall?
What should they be thinking about?
My biggest piece of advice that I wish someone gave me was
give yourself grace.
This is really hard.
Teaching is hard, no matter what anybody tells you.
It is fun.
It's a lot of fun, and it is very fulfilling,
but it is hard,
and I have found that a lot of us as teachers are
perfectionists.
We want everything to go exactly the way we're expecting,
and we have to remember that it's not always going to go
the way that you plan and that is okay,
but it's also okay to acknowledge when things go wrong,
and it's like okay well how can I fix that?
The second piece of advice that I have is create a binder
with every single piece of advice you have ever received.
Every strategy, pedagogy, everything from your mentors,
everything you learn and works for you,
leave it in a binder because I promise you one day you're
going to look back and you're going to be like, well,
oh no I don't know how to handle this classroom management
piece that I've been working on,
and you can flip to that little section in your binder,
and you can refer to it and it is awesome.
And then the last piece is that every class and every
student will be different as we've already discussed.
Take them as they come and embrace who they are while also
instilling knowledge into them.
It's not about creating who we want them to be and what
we're, you know, expecting of them.
It's about really embracing who they want to be and who
they want to become and seeing that potential in them.
That's so important,
seeing the potential and investing in them.
And when they see that you're doing that,
they start to see themselves in a different way too, Emma.
Yep, absolutely.
And what resources or support systems were most valuable to
you during your student teaching time?
Oh, my mentors.
I would not have made it without my lovely,
lovely mentors that I owe everything to.
That was everything to me.
And then also the people in my cohort,
the people that are going through the same thing as me,
that was everything as well.
Because we could share stories, we could swap advice,
we could collaborate on things.
And so those two things were the most valuable to me.
And I hope that you continue to think about the importance
of your peers,
because once you start in your own classroom,
those people that are your workmates,
those are going to be your greatest pieces of support.
And you're going to be their greatest support as well,
because you're all in it together.
And it's really about looking at taking the context of your
own school,
thinking about how we can make this place the most exciting
and interesting and caring space for students.
Yeah, absolutely.
And there was one professor also that I would like to throw
out there that I won't say her name,
but she was the most valuable person almost through this
entire program.
And if I could thank her in more ways than I could even
think of, I would find that one professor, latch on,
and soak up every piece of knowledge from them.
And I'm really going to encourage you to say her name
because everyone needs to feel that sense of shout out and
that love that people have for them and knowing that you've
really been that person for someone.
So please share her name or his name.
Absolutely.
Her name is Catrish Griffin.
She is a professor here at Johns Hopkins,
and she worked in the Baltimore City school system for a
really long time.
And I mean,
she has so much knowledge that just amazes me every time I
talk to her.
She's really incredible.
Well,
I appreciate your telling us about her because that's what
everyone needs to have.
They need to have that person that they really can say,
you were in my corner, and you were really helping me.
And someday you will be that for someone else.
And so being the reflective person that you are, Emma,
as you look back,
is there anything that you would have done differently
during your student teaching experience?
I would have been more bold.
I would have stepped outside of the box a little bit more.
I felt like I kept myself in this very comfortable space
where, okay, this works, this doesn't,
let's stick to where we are.
And I wish that I would have taken more risks and trusted
myself and realized that it's okay if it doesn't go the way
I want it to.
It is so important to challenge yourself and to know that
you can do hard things,
and you can do things that are uncomfortable.
And so I really wish that I would have taken that
initiative a little bit more.
And the good thing about being bold during practicum is
that you've got someone there to step in, if it does fail.
You've got someone to help you problem solve.
What was good? How could it have been better?
And so having that extra set of hands and that extra set of
eyes can give you that sense of freedom or that sense of
support.
So I, too, encourage, be bold,
but be bold in your own classroom too,
because you are there,
and you're the person who is in charge.
And so be your true self in the classroom.
That's my best advice.
But also, you know, be authentically you.
Your students can tell if you are not being yourself.
Your students can tell if you're putting on a facade,
and you never want to do that to them.
So let them see who you are.
Absolutely and our own authentic Emma Moore and I want to
thank you for guesting with us today.
This is Emma Moore from the Teaching Well Program at Johns
Hopkins University and I am so proud of the growth that
Emma has shown over these past six months of mentorship,
and I know her students in her student teaching experience
were lucky to have her and that her future classes are
lucky to have such a caring teacher. And if you're
interested in learning more about the Teaching Well Program
at Johns Hopkins or Edifying Teachers will include those
links in our show notes. And, so,
to all the new teachers listening remember that every
expert was once a beginner and that every challenge you
face is helping you become the educator your students
need. So keep going, keep growing,
and keep making a difference and thanks for joining us on
New Teacher Talk.
Connect with us to our socials on Instagram and Blue
Sky @NewTeacherTalk. So until next time keep teaching and keep learning.