On Being a Masters Student (sort of)

This has been my first week of attending classes at Northwestern. Honestly, besides the 50 minute commute at a seemingly ungodly hour for a recent college grad (boarding a train at 8 am! what!), it is very easy. Mostly, we have been discussing philosophical and theoretical approaches to educating, as well as a lot of buzz words for running a good classroom. Bloom's taxonomy, backwards design, inquiry, the AAAS, authoratative, discussion-based, Piaget, ELL, differentiated assessment, ISBE, collaborative learning, exploratory... I feel like it's a whole lot of jargon getting at the same point: engage your students, create a safe learning environment, and don't be a bitch be fair.

Assuming I "am ready" the first time around, I will receive my provisional teaching certification in Biology and General Science by mid-July. If for some reason I fall off the wagon of awesomeness, that will be pushed until early August. The purpose of moving up the potential certification date is beause Chicago Public Schools (CPS) recently mandated that in order for a school to technically hire someone, they must already possess a form of certification. Many future teachers (they call us interns... I guess because we do not get paid yet!) are through Chicago Teaching Fellows, a program supported directly by CPS, so they must work in a CPS school. Therefore, Northwestern created an early option so people can get a jump start on the interview and hiring process. Luckily, I am working in a charter, so they already started my paperwork (although working outside the CPS system leads to fewer union protections, and a noticably lower salary).

To get this provisional certification, we need to turn in a portfolio illustrating a few main points: observation skills, content knowledge, inter/intrapersonal skills, improvement, self-reflection, and a bunch of other things. We do this by handing in assignments on a variety of things, from a narrative essay on our beliefs of teaching to a video where we guide an inquiry-based lesson with our summer school students and then reflect in an essay. I think it will be really cool to look back at these materials in a few months (and years?!) and see how my philosophies and ideas of practice have changed. I am sure they will drastically once I am fully in charge of a classroom.

Next Wednesday, I finally start student teaching in the mornings, and I will only be up in Evanston in the afternoons. I am so excited, but a bit nervous, over this. From everyone I know who has ever been near a summer school, I get the impression that it is just not the most positive or motivated learning environment. Perhaps I will have a lot more to worry about in this setting than in September, when I am in control of the lessons, have only 15 kids per class who are close to adulthood, and am able to trust and rely on my colleagues.

This whole process ends around August 2nd, which is way earlier than I expected. That will be nice though, because I start at my 'real' school around August 18th. However, I do take seminars all year and submit a second portfolio next spring to obtain my initial certification (provisional only lasts 1 year). The label of alternatively certified (having to say that I received a Type 24 instead of a Type 9, which is the regular certification for secondary) lasts for 5 years, then switches to Type 9. What a weird system. I honestly feel that, at least in secondary science, it is more beneficial for students to have a teacher who majored in that subject area instead of education. There is statistical proof out there that certification or MS Ed doesn't significantly improve your teaching, but obtaining a BS or MS in science or math when teaching at the high school level does! But alas, the beaurocracy of education does not see it this way, and I am paid even less for getting alternative certification. :(

Funny story: I went with Dan, the other secondary intern from my specific program (ICTC) to see the tech / tuition guy yesterday. I get the forms with the information for creating my online account, paying bills, getting an email address, and see that my name is spelled wrong: Jallyn instead of Jaclyn! Last night, I was able to get through creating the accounts, but they assigned my email address with this wrong name. I spent a solid half hour this afternoon on the phone, being forwarded to all sorts of departments at NU to try to straighten this out. Finally, I spoke with the right woman at the Registrar's office, who INSISTED that my name is Jallyn. Upon my restating that this was, in fact, not the case, she admitted "well, it looks like Jallyn on this form you filled out. But I guess all of your cs look like ls... I will give you the benefit of the doubt about spelling your name." That was a whole lotta sass for my bad handwriting!