Student Teacher Evaluation 1971

I recently found my student teacher evaluation. It’s nearly thirty-eight years old – an interesting prediction about what would eventually emerge as my teaching style. At the time, I was a senior at Hartwick College in Oneonta NY. I student taught at very small rural school in South New Berlin NY. It was a K-12 central school of about 300 students with a senior class of about a dozen.  You can download my first evaluation here. (348KB pdf)  
 
Peter-eval
I’ve included a few comments from my college supervisor:

You have no problem with class control when you wanted it. – I suggest you get it as soon as you are ready to start.
Learning cannot go on to any great extent, if half the students are talking.

And I especially like this one – what an image!

Climb on them and let them know what you expect.

[Ironically, I was teaching a lesson on Ghandi and civil disobedience!]
 
I suspect my college supervisor was hoping to see a well-organized lecture with attentive students busy taking notes. At the time, I was just stumbling along trying to figure out how to engage my kid in their learning. After teaching few years,  I realized it involved shifting my role from information dispenser to designer of learning environment. For example, I had to learn not to reply to every student response during a whole group discussion. That teacher-dominated discussion was only teaching my students that none of their comments had any value, until I “approved” them. As more experienced teacher, my classes were filled with student discussion – the difference was, I had well-planned formats that encouraged all students to reflect and contribute. Unlike my college supervisor, I do believe learning can go on with all the students talking!
 
BTW: I did see one positive in my student teacher evaluation. In the space for “Chalkboard Work.” He had written “used overhead.”  Guess I was into cutting-edge technology from the earliest days of my career.

3 Replies to “Student Teacher Evaluation 1971”

  1. I connected with your statement about moving from a dispenser of knowledge to a designer of learning environments. When I began teaching, I must admit that I was impressed with the lectures I designed and the worksheets that I created (those available through the textbook company were insufficient). But I soon realized my students were as bored as I had been when I endured high school. It was when I learned to be quiet–what Finkel called Teaching With Your Mouth Shut–that students began to learn…and I did as well.

  2. Randy,

    I remember as new teacher thinking it was my job to read and synthesize all the learning into a fascinating lecture for my students. I was most likely the best student in the class.

    Thanks for the tip on Finkel’s book. It looks interesting – I ordered it!

    Cheers,

    Peter

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