Evidence of Innovation and Stories of Growth: Perspectives From an Alumni Resident and First-Year Teacher

• In Event: 52.072 - Professional Development School Teacher Residents: Storied Journeys With Implications for Partnerships and Teacher Recruitment, Development, and Retention

Abstract

This presenter will share her educational journey through lessons learned about teaching, learning, and her students, and herself. As a recent graduate from [our university’s] Masters of Arts in Teaching program, and a newly certified teacher, she has accumulated experience of working in an urban school setting while receiving support from a number of different outlets, including her mentor and her teacher development residency, [grant name]. She wishes to share how these experiences helped her become an effective and purposeful teacher.

She articulates her journey to teaching, saying:

I never really considered being a teacher. As an undergraduate at [our university], I majored in biology with a minor in chemistry. I had initial thoughts about attending veterinary school or pharmacy school. I got the opportunity to work in a variety of different research positions and internships. I worked in a neuroscience lab, paleontology lab, and was an intern for the [city] Science Festival. After realizing that working in research is mostly sitting in a fluorescently lit room with no human contact, and finding a love for teaching both children and adults at the [city] Science Festival, I decided to pursue teaching as a career.

She intends to tell a story about student engagement, her partnership with her mentor, and her relationships built through her [grant] residency, saying:

Starting my student teaching at the historical [blinded] High School in downtown [city], I had many preconceived notions about teaching and learning. Most of my notions were based on my own experiences as a student, not as a teacher. I had many first impressions about the students that I was about to spend a year with, but what stood out most was how the teachers spoke about their student body. I intend to tell a story about how deficit views of language led to teachers preparing lesson plans that are basic, and do not allow for creativity or problem solving skills. I want others to see how my views of teaching changed after having a more positive view of my students. I want others to see how my relationship with my mentor teacher changed me as a teacher, and as a person. And finally, I want others to see how the [PDS] residency builds community of future and current teachers and provides emotional and mental support in the stressful times of earning your certification and Master’s.

In being involved in the AFT and [PDS grant] programs, she will take many lessons with her to the next steps of her practice. She will remember that students learn by doing, and that engaging students in creative, hands-on, STEM, and problem solving activities creates lifelong learners and lovers of science.

She will also make recommendations for the partnership and for teacher recruitment. She believes the role of community and partnership is a huge aspect of development and retention of teachers. Her own experience shows that without her strong relationship with her mentor and [PDS residency] cohort, she would not be where she is today.

Author

• Ariel Burgess, DeKalb County School System