Season Two
Episode 41
Mentoring Student Teachers with Tonya McKenna
Tonya McKenna is in her 23rd year teaching elementary music. She currently teaches K-6 in North Texas and previously taught K-5 in Las Vegas, Nevada. She earned her Bachelor's in Music Performance, Masters in Music Education, and her Orff Schulwerk certification at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Tonya completed a post-level Orff Schulwerk class at Southern Methodist University as well as World Music Level I. She is the current President of the North Texas Orff Chapter. Tonya and her husband Mike have two wonderful children. She loves being a soccer mom, yoga, reading, and cooking.
TRANSCRIPT OF THE SHOW
Jessica: Tonya, this is so great. I'm thrilled to have you on the podcast today.
Tonya: Excited to be with you.
Jessica: I'm so excited to be with you as well. This will be really fun. So can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Tonya: Yeah so I've been teaching - I'm starting my 23rd year. I've been at three schools. I teach elementary kindergarten through sixth grade right now. I love creativity, learning reading. I love movement and recorder and ukuleles. I have a wonderful family and two kids and love yoga, cooking, and you know, I'm a soccer mom. So I'm very very busy.
Jessica: This episode is actually the result of a talk that we had in a parking garage. If you remember, we were at SMU doing some Orff Level breakfast things and we were talking in the parking garage and you bumped into one of the students that you were a mentor to, who was one of your student teachers and we were just talking. You were sharing kind of a little bit about what an amazing experience you had with him and so I was like, 'man, this would be such great information to talk about' and so I'm really excited for you to share just what it's like on the mentor side and things you do with the student teachers. And you've had several student teachers so what do you hope for them to be able to do while they're with you during their time with you.
Tonya: Well, first of all, I've been super lucky to have so many awesome student teachers and they've all been wonderful experiences for me. I haven't had any negative experiences and just feel so fortunate to have the student teachers that I've had. My hope for them is to have the positive student teaching experience where they learn a lot, they make a lot of mistakes, they gather as much information as they can, and that they learn a lot of skills and lesson planning. I want them to treat the classroom as their own because in 6-8 short weeks, they'll be on their own and they need to function. I want them to feel comfortable in all aspects of teaching on their own.
Jessica: Absolutely. So how do you prepare your student teachers to go from that very first day of being with you and doing kind of observational work and then taking on the full classes themselves?
Tonya: So funny story - when I did my student teaching, and I don't know if my mentor teacher is even listening, but she threw me in the fire the very first day and I remember thinking, 'Oh dear Lord!' but it was a funny experience and I have to laugh at it now. But in their first few days when I'm introducing the student teacher, I like them to be talking about themselves so they can already be comfortable talking to students and allow the elementary students to ask questions. I encourage the student teacher to start engaging in the lessons right away. Have conversations during group work, participate in the activities, help students along the way with instrument parts: recorder, ukulele - just be active, but then also within the first two days, I ask the student teacher to find one easily observed activity or transition for them to take over so that by the second or third day they just try it. And then maybe by the end of the week, maybe one or two more activities or transitions that they can take over.
Then from there in the second week again teach the very first day of the second week. Then I want them to choose more activities that they can teach on their own and we're going to just start increasing those activities that week. At that point, they have to start picking activities that they're going to teach on their own without observing. So by the third week they're already starting to - not necessarily an entire grade level - but activities within grade levels that they feel comfortable. That they can just start taking over and that includes, 'here's some stuff that I'm going to teach next week. What do you just want to take over without even seeing me teach it?'
We continue that process until they're completely have taken over my full load, but then usually about halfway through I have them start planning and preparing and choosing pieces and activities on their own.
Jessica: Do you help guide them with materials and resources to figure out what they want to teach or how does that look as far as them choosing those grade levels and those activities they're going to do?
Tonya: Yeah definitely. I always feel that students teachers, they feel overwhelmed with their tasks so I give them all the materials they need, but I let them choose so if they have a certain objective that we have to reach that week, I'll say 'here's all the choices. Look through these books. Look through these activities and you choose what you think will work for this' and then they plan it completely on their own. That way they can also start gathering materials for themselves.
Jessica: Yeah, 'cause you're right. It is overwhelming at first. I remember...I remember feeling that way for sure when I student taught.
Tonya: Yes.
Jessica: For those who are listening and maybe they're starting their student teaching semester or they're in the midst of student teaching, they're entering the classroom for the first time with their mentor teacher, what can those student teachers do to set themselves up for a really great experience?
Tonya: So definitely they want to meet with their mentor before student teaching starts. You want to learn what your mentor's expectations are for things like arrival times, when they can expect to leave most days, required staff meetings, special dates, PTA meetings, workshops, and after-school rehearsals. Be prepared to give your mentor information about your university. For example, work sample studies. I know that's real big. Every student teacher I've had, they've had to do a work sample and that has to start right away where they have to pre-test, apply differentiated instruction, administer a post-test, and then gather all that data for their final report. So you definitely want to communicate that with your mentor.
A couple things to help the student teacher is to make sure or to practice before they start student teaching. Practice playing a drum as you talk. Can you talk and drum at the same time? Can you clap or play an ostinato while you're talking or while you're singing? And then the same thing with the piano - can you talk or give instructions as you play? And I think this will help a lot with transitions, music activities, and just movement instructions.
Also to just remember to be professional and to communicate. Communication is key.
Jessica: Are there any musical skills that, like you mentioned playing the drum beat as you talk and helping with those transitions and things. Are there any musical skills that are helpful for them to have before starting their student teaching or to be open to learning?
Tonya: Yeah, I've found with most of my student teachers, they've been phenomenal musicians so I haven't found any problems with that. Just making sure - that always seems to be a struggle - is being able to talk and play an instrument at the same time. Drumming and - 'cause that's such an easy instrument to pick up and have kids start moving, but you're giving instruction at the same time.
Practice your recorder. You know, if you're not a recorder player, brush up on your recorder skills and you know ukulele is becoming a lot more popular now so if you can play or just maybe brush up a little bit on your ukulele skills, definitely all of those ideas.
And then just also when you're in the trenches, just make sure you practice your music. I remember my student teaching days, I mean I felt like - I mean I was practicing my music every night and just making sure I, at a minimum, knew all the music really well. And then look over your plan. Also your process. What are your first steps? What are your questions? That kind of stuff. How are you going to keep up your engagement going as you teach and if you don't practice that, it's not going to... you know, you're going to have a lot more problems.
Jessica: Yeah, it doesn't magically just happen.
Tonya: Right. Right. For sure. That's for sure. I mean I still practice my stuff and I go over my plan. It's something that good teachers do.
Jessica: Yup. Yeah. I definitely spend time practicing the pieces that I'm going to teach the students and how. Looking at ' okay here's the music' and what is the best way to teach them this piece? Should I start with singing? Should I start with movement? Should I, you know, that process behind not just doing the same process for every piece.
Tonya: Yes, yes, yes. Definitely.
Jessica: That's a lot. So on the flip side, what do you feel like the mentor - the student teacher mentor should be doing?
Tonya: Okay well definitely you're going to lead by example. You're going to guide that student teacher, but you're going to also treat them like a colleague. You're going to want to find their strengths and that will help build them up because they'll rely on those strengths when they are in the trenches. But most importantly give them as many tools in their toolbox to be successful on their own and that means things like routines, procedures, and transitions. Teaching them or helping them learn engagement strategies. How do they 'hook' a lesson? Or...because most lessons need some kind of fun hook to make it fun for the students. And then how do you keep them engaged throughout the lesson?
You'll definitely want to be able to talk about your music philosophy. What approaches do you use when teaching and then how do you incorporate other approaches in music education? You'll want to be able to verbalize how you lesson plan, how you long range plan. You'll want to make sure that your student teacher is involved in your performances so if you have a PTA meeting, you want that student teacher to be fully involved in that including being able to maybe conduct a piece or run one of the pieces during the show. And then lead by example through professional growth making sure that they're attending workshops with you.
Jessica: Those are great ideas. When the student teachers are with you, what are some ways that you give them feedback to help them along the way?
Tonya: I usually have a notebook specifically for my student teachers and I keep it close by. As they're teaching, I just write down ideas and things that I can share with them and then if the students are transitioning and I can go insert something really quick during the transitions I'll do that during breaks, but most of the time we debrief at the end of the day where we just discuss what went right and what went wrong because the sooner you talk about everything right away then you won't forget what your thoughts were.
Jessica: You know, I always think it's easier to give praise and encouragement. That's kind of the easier side of feedback, but when there's things that maybe they need to reconsider how the lesson went or the things that didn't go so well, how do you still keep it positive and encouraging so that they don't get frustrated or lose - discouraged, but they also know 'hey, this is an area that you can continue to work on.'
Tonya: Yeah and that's exactly what it is. It's just first of all, always being positive. First finding their strengths, but then as you talk to them having them be aware of what they do need to work on, but just to remind them 'oh my goodness. You're at the beginning. Don't worry. You're trying and this will all come in time, but at least you're aware of it.' I'm reading Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess and what a great book this is! But one of the things that he says is you know, there not failures; it's actually just feedback. So if you have a bad day and you feel like a failure, don't see it as a failure, but see it as feedback and how can you take that feedback and where can you make the improvements. And so I hope my student teachers feel like that. That they are constantly finding that whatever's not going well that they can just improve upon that.
Jessica: I still feel like even after all these years that I'm not done growing.
Tonya: Oh gosh no.
Jessica: You know?! It's continuing to be a process and knowing even personally that's encouraging that even on those days when those lessons just don't go right for whatever reason, taking the time to evaluate it and look at it and knowing... that's a great idea. It's not a failure; it's feedback.
Tonya: Oh definitely yes and that's what makes you a great teacher is that you're constantly growing and I think that everybody needs to do that.
Jessica: Yeah. Absolutely. So some of the student teachers that come in, they have an idea of what grade level they want to teach when they get finished teaching and are certified and all of that. Like for my student teaching I did half a semester of high school and I did choir. I absolutely loved it. And then I did my elementary student teaching and loved that and just kind of felt like 'well I probably wouldn't ever do the older grades - that the younger grades were for me,' but a lot of people are on the flip side where they know they're going to do middle school band or high school choir or whatever it is, but they are also required to do that elementary portion. And so for those students who are like going through the motions, but maybe they're not. You know, they're giving it their very best, but they know or they think they know down the road where they're going to be. What advice would you give to those college students as far as what they should do during that portion of their time as a student teacher in the elementary classroom?
Tonya: Well definitely learning is power so I think any perspective that you get from your elementary student teaching experience will only help you down the road. I would see student teaching in the elementary field an opportunity to see how elementary music educators build music capabilities from the foundation level. You get to see the elemental process so be open minded and you never know. You might end up absolutely loving the elementary field assignment and you might actually be really good at it. And I think it'll give you perspective and respect for what elementary music educators actually do.
Jessica: I've heard people say that they step into the elementary classroom and they just can't believe all the things that the students are learning and all the things you can with them as an educator.
Tonya: Yes, yes.
Jessica: It changes their minds because you kind of remember your closest experiences so your experience in college or high school and middle school a little fresher, but the elementary experience, I mean, it's incredible what you can do with these students.
Tonya: Yeah, and the mind power that goes into taking those college experience and how to turn it into an elemental concept. Bringing it to the level of the elementary students so that they understand it and that's a skill set that takes time.
Jessica: Yeah. Definitely. What are some things that you do to gain confidence in what I would say is like three big keys and that is classroom management, lesson planning, and organization. 'Cause those are I think three biggies that, you know, they all take time to figure out, but as a mentor I think that's such a special role to be able to help them with.
Tonya: Yeah again, I'll always say lead by example, but you have to have a functioning and successful classroom management plan in place yourself and the student teacher again has to learn and experience how to use, teach, and reinforce routines, procedures, and transitions. Things like entering and leaving the classroom, getting into a circle, moving to and from instruments, finding partners and groups. What are your procedures and how do they set up procedures for gathering equipment or instruments? And how do you set and reinforce expectations for creative and organized movement? And then when you set up your transitions, how do you verbalize that and how do you reinforce it using a system approach like CHAMPS, but how do you verbalize that with your kids so that they completely understand your expectations?
Students must experience engagement activities or engagement strategies. Most importantly, how are you going to hook that lesson? How are you going to grab their attention and there's so many fun and exciting ways to hook a lesson, but then how do you continue that engagement throughout the lesson keeping it exciting? You're almost putting on a show, but it's fun! It's a ton of fun and I love it. And then of course your engagement strategies that keep the engagement would be things like games or higher order questioning, high yield strategies like using novelty or humor, movement to keep that engagement.
You know, having a rock solid lesson plan, making sure that your process is clear, and that you're planning things like what questions are you going to ask in the lesson that promote that higher level thinking. Things like that.
Jessica: Yeah. There's so much.
Tonya: Yes. So much. It's a lot and I think that if you really focus on the routines and procedures and also the engagement strategies and then show by example the process when you're teaching and the student teacher can observe that. And of course taking them with you to workshops so that they can see what the process looks like from other instructors.
Jessica: Absolutely. What advice would you give for student teachers? And then what advice would you give for mentors?
Tonya: Okay. So advice for student teachers:
1. Definitely be on time or be early.
I've been so lucky with every one of my student teachers. I have told them 'please beat me to school. Don't let me beat you.' And they have all done that, which I think is fantastic and you know, shows a lot for their character.
2. Have a helpful frame of mind
So be proactive instead of reactive. If you see any place that needs help, stand up and go help out.
3. Think of failure as feedback.
And like I said before from Dave Burgess' book Teach Like a Pirate, think of failure as feedback instead of failure.
4. Take notes
So you won't remember everything. Have a system to capture all of your notes. One of my favorite apps that I use is Evernote. I think of it as a second brain and I drop everything into Evernote and during the summer I'll go through it and kind of weed through it and put it in its place like in a notebook where it needs to be, but capture all of that information 'cause you won't remember it.
5. Ask questions about everything
Don't be afraid and then if you feel like you're asking too many, you're not! Just keep asking questions 'cause that's really going to help you.
6. Teacher journal
And then something that I did a long time ago is I started a teaching journal and I wish I kept up with it because when I look back at what I have written, it's just been really fun to look back at my thoughts as a young teacher and plus just funny things that kids say. It is just such a neat thing to look back, but start that journal. You don't have to write in it every day, but I think 25 years from now when you're in your 25th year of teaching or you're ready to retire, what a fun thing to look back and just see your whole, your life as a teacher. Really neat to see.
7. Communicate with your mentor
And then just don't forget to communicate with your mentor. Communication is key. Don't be afraid to talk to them if you're struggling.
Jessica: I love that you did that teacher journal! That would be fascinating and really just so neat to see those moments of teaching and what it was like and...
Tonya: Definitely and mine started like that, but then I just I was so tickled by the funny things that kids say that I just now a lot of the stuff - I'm reading it - the funny things that kids say and it's just so much fun to read.
Jessica: Yes. I'll start making notes between, you know, you have those five minutes between classes, I'll make little funny notes about what the kids said and they're just...you just never know. Especially like kinder and first grade. I mean, they'll say anything so it's so funny to read.
Tonya: Definitely the joy of teaching isn't it?!
Jessica: Absolutely. Yeah! So what about for mentors? What advice would you give them?
Tonya:
1. Treat them like a colleague
Yes you definitely want to make the student teacher's experience as positive as possible. Like I said before, treat them like a colleague. It's so much fun for them to hear you tell the students 'Look how lucky you are! You have two music teachers.' And then really use that to your advantage. For example, I don't always have my student teacher do my outside duty every day. Sometimes I allow them to stay inside and use that time to work with kids like on a recorder or ukulele or vice versa. Just making sure that we're using that opportunity that we have two music teachers in the building at once. Something that most music teachers don't get to experience because we're so isolated on our own.
2. Give the student teacher their own space in the room
You're going to be sharing your space with them so make sure that the student teacher has their own space in the room. You know, a seat. A desk. Something like that.
3. Give yourself time and space to process
But then also at the end of the day because you are with that student teacher every day and you're always 'on,' after the debrief at the end of the day allow the student teacher to leave so that you have time and space to process what happened that day. Read emails. I know I need that for myself just to kind of get myself settled. Don't feel bad about that.
4. Prepare
And of course you're going to make a list of the types of activities and skills that the student teacher should experience during their time student teaching. Things like:
- Folk dance
- Round
- Orchestration with a borden and ostinato
- Improvisation using the rhythm building blocks
- Music game
- Rhythmic and Melodic concepts
- Creative movement
- Drum ensemble
- Choir warm-up
- Song to choir
- Assessing
- Gradebook
- Activity using a Children's Book
- Recorder
- Ukulele
- Planning (giving them your resources, allowing them to choose the activities based on where the students are and where their needs are, and allow them to try activities that they learned maybe in their college courses
5. Making Visuals
The student teacher should make some visuals because we know that technology sometimes can fail. Have them make rhythm cards, you know, that kind of stuff so that when they are on their own, they won't be completely overwhelmed. As a first year teacher having everything they have to do plus making visuals so I sometimes will tell them, 'these visuals you need to make by the end of the week' or whatever.
6. Communicating with parents
The student teacher should have at least one experience, if not more, communicating with a parent whether it's a positive or negative behavior that they're addressing. I feel like that's important for the student teacher to experience.
7. Professional Growth
And then definitely for them to make sure your student teacher is growing professionally and they see you doing the same. Take them to workshops with you. Talk about some of the books that you read. I know during the summer I always try to pick a few education books in addition to all of my fun books that I get to read that I just enjoy because I can, but also reading something educational. How can you grow during the summer? How can you add to your toolbox?
Jessica: As you're reading everything I'm thinking, 'man! That's an incredible amount of things for the mentor to think about doing, but yet it's all of the things that we do.
Tonya: Absolutely.
Jessica: One of the things I really loved about what you shared - well, there are two things. I loved where you talked about giving the student teacher their own space because they need to feel like they're not just coming and taking over your classroom. They need to really feel like they have a place there.
Tonya: Yes. There a part of the classroom. Yes.
Jessica: I love that you do that and then the other thing that I love that you shared is giving yourself the time to have a little time just to yourself to do the emails and think through things. Just having that time alone to think, I would think, would be really valuable.
Tonya: Yeah and you'll be surprised. That is really important to give yourself that time and not feel bad about it.
Jessica: What has been rewarding for you being a member?
Tonya: Well, I feel so fortunate. All of the student teachers I've had have been phenomenal. I've created lifetime friendships with some of them, but they're neat people that you get to become friends with and you know, some of them I could be their mother. So you know, I start to feel a little bit like they're my own kids. But it is a partnership and you'll feel rewarded with that partnership. Taking advantage of having two music teachers at once.
Another reward is the unique perspective you get from watching your own elementary students from observation mindset. So you know watching the little intricacies of each little kid and things that you don't notice sometimes when you're up in front of the classroom. Even sometimes building those relationships with those elementary kids, you can pull them aside if you feel like you need to talk to them, but I feel like I've been able to build more relationships like that.
I've learned so much myself as a mentor just I'm growing from having to explain so much and I'm making sure I'm covering all my bases or their bases, you know, making sure they have everything they need as a student teacher and so I've grown myself and I'm continuing to grow. You know, you have to think of golly - how am I gonna explain this concept to them and so it really helps you grow as a teacher and as an educator.
Seeing your student teacher's confidence build from the beginning to the end. You know, they come in a little timid, but by the end they're just rocking' and rollin' on their own and it's fun to see that. I just feel very fortunate that I've had the student teachers I've had. They've definitely taught me a lot.
Jessica: Well I know that when we ran into your former student teacher that you were a mentor of and he just like lit up seeing you and then was introducing you to the friends that were around him and seeing the joy that having learned underneath you brought him that that's just so incredibly special and what a really great opportunity we have to invest in the lives of other educators coming up.
Tonya: Oh definitely. What a fun experience it's been to have student teachers and I hope I can continue to help those students.
Jessica: Awesome. Well thank you so much Tonya!
Tonya: Yeah! Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.
Episode 41
Mentoring Student Teachers with Tonya McKenna
Tonya McKenna is in her 23rd year teaching elementary music. She currently teaches K-6 in North Texas and previously taught K-5 in Las Vegas, Nevada. She earned her Bachelor's in Music Performance, Masters in Music Education, and her Orff Schulwerk certification at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Tonya completed a post-level Orff Schulwerk class at Southern Methodist University as well as World Music Level I. She is the current President of the North Texas Orff Chapter. Tonya and her husband Mike have two wonderful children. She loves being a soccer mom, yoga, reading, and cooking.
TRANSCRIPT OF THE SHOW
Jessica: Tonya, this is so great. I'm thrilled to have you on the podcast today.
Tonya: Excited to be with you.
Jessica: I'm so excited to be with you as well. This will be really fun. So can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Tonya: Yeah so I've been teaching - I'm starting my 23rd year. I've been at three schools. I teach elementary kindergarten through sixth grade right now. I love creativity, learning reading. I love movement and recorder and ukuleles. I have a wonderful family and two kids and love yoga, cooking, and you know, I'm a soccer mom. So I'm very very busy.
Jessica: This episode is actually the result of a talk that we had in a parking garage. If you remember, we were at SMU doing some Orff Level breakfast things and we were talking in the parking garage and you bumped into one of the students that you were a mentor to, who was one of your student teachers and we were just talking. You were sharing kind of a little bit about what an amazing experience you had with him and so I was like, 'man, this would be such great information to talk about' and so I'm really excited for you to share just what it's like on the mentor side and things you do with the student teachers. And you've had several student teachers so what do you hope for them to be able to do while they're with you during their time with you.
Tonya: Well, first of all, I've been super lucky to have so many awesome student teachers and they've all been wonderful experiences for me. I haven't had any negative experiences and just feel so fortunate to have the student teachers that I've had. My hope for them is to have the positive student teaching experience where they learn a lot, they make a lot of mistakes, they gather as much information as they can, and that they learn a lot of skills and lesson planning. I want them to treat the classroom as their own because in 6-8 short weeks, they'll be on their own and they need to function. I want them to feel comfortable in all aspects of teaching on their own.
Jessica: Absolutely. So how do you prepare your student teachers to go from that very first day of being with you and doing kind of observational work and then taking on the full classes themselves?
Tonya: So funny story - when I did my student teaching, and I don't know if my mentor teacher is even listening, but she threw me in the fire the very first day and I remember thinking, 'Oh dear Lord!' but it was a funny experience and I have to laugh at it now. But in their first few days when I'm introducing the student teacher, I like them to be talking about themselves so they can already be comfortable talking to students and allow the elementary students to ask questions. I encourage the student teacher to start engaging in the lessons right away. Have conversations during group work, participate in the activities, help students along the way with instrument parts: recorder, ukulele - just be active, but then also within the first two days, I ask the student teacher to find one easily observed activity or transition for them to take over so that by the second or third day they just try it. And then maybe by the end of the week, maybe one or two more activities or transitions that they can take over.
Then from there in the second week again teach the very first day of the second week. Then I want them to choose more activities that they can teach on their own and we're going to just start increasing those activities that week. At that point, they have to start picking activities that they're going to teach on their own without observing. So by the third week they're already starting to - not necessarily an entire grade level - but activities within grade levels that they feel comfortable. That they can just start taking over and that includes, 'here's some stuff that I'm going to teach next week. What do you just want to take over without even seeing me teach it?'
We continue that process until they're completely have taken over my full load, but then usually about halfway through I have them start planning and preparing and choosing pieces and activities on their own.
Jessica: Do you help guide them with materials and resources to figure out what they want to teach or how does that look as far as them choosing those grade levels and those activities they're going to do?
Tonya: Yeah definitely. I always feel that students teachers, they feel overwhelmed with their tasks so I give them all the materials they need, but I let them choose so if they have a certain objective that we have to reach that week, I'll say 'here's all the choices. Look through these books. Look through these activities and you choose what you think will work for this' and then they plan it completely on their own. That way they can also start gathering materials for themselves.
Jessica: Yeah, 'cause you're right. It is overwhelming at first. I remember...I remember feeling that way for sure when I student taught.
Tonya: Yes.
Jessica: For those who are listening and maybe they're starting their student teaching semester or they're in the midst of student teaching, they're entering the classroom for the first time with their mentor teacher, what can those student teachers do to set themselves up for a really great experience?
Tonya: So definitely they want to meet with their mentor before student teaching starts. You want to learn what your mentor's expectations are for things like arrival times, when they can expect to leave most days, required staff meetings, special dates, PTA meetings, workshops, and after-school rehearsals. Be prepared to give your mentor information about your university. For example, work sample studies. I know that's real big. Every student teacher I've had, they've had to do a work sample and that has to start right away where they have to pre-test, apply differentiated instruction, administer a post-test, and then gather all that data for their final report. So you definitely want to communicate that with your mentor.
A couple things to help the student teacher is to make sure or to practice before they start student teaching. Practice playing a drum as you talk. Can you talk and drum at the same time? Can you clap or play an ostinato while you're talking or while you're singing? And then the same thing with the piano - can you talk or give instructions as you play? And I think this will help a lot with transitions, music activities, and just movement instructions.
Also to just remember to be professional and to communicate. Communication is key.
Jessica: Are there any musical skills that, like you mentioned playing the drum beat as you talk and helping with those transitions and things. Are there any musical skills that are helpful for them to have before starting their student teaching or to be open to learning?
Tonya: Yeah, I've found with most of my student teachers, they've been phenomenal musicians so I haven't found any problems with that. Just making sure - that always seems to be a struggle - is being able to talk and play an instrument at the same time. Drumming and - 'cause that's such an easy instrument to pick up and have kids start moving, but you're giving instruction at the same time.
Practice your recorder. You know, if you're not a recorder player, brush up on your recorder skills and you know ukulele is becoming a lot more popular now so if you can play or just maybe brush up a little bit on your ukulele skills, definitely all of those ideas.
And then just also when you're in the trenches, just make sure you practice your music. I remember my student teaching days, I mean I felt like - I mean I was practicing my music every night and just making sure I, at a minimum, knew all the music really well. And then look over your plan. Also your process. What are your first steps? What are your questions? That kind of stuff. How are you going to keep up your engagement going as you teach and if you don't practice that, it's not going to... you know, you're going to have a lot more problems.
Jessica: Yeah, it doesn't magically just happen.
Tonya: Right. Right. For sure. That's for sure. I mean I still practice my stuff and I go over my plan. It's something that good teachers do.
Jessica: Yup. Yeah. I definitely spend time practicing the pieces that I'm going to teach the students and how. Looking at ' okay here's the music' and what is the best way to teach them this piece? Should I start with singing? Should I start with movement? Should I, you know, that process behind not just doing the same process for every piece.
Tonya: Yes, yes, yes. Definitely.
Jessica: That's a lot. So on the flip side, what do you feel like the mentor - the student teacher mentor should be doing?
Tonya: Okay well definitely you're going to lead by example. You're going to guide that student teacher, but you're going to also treat them like a colleague. You're going to want to find their strengths and that will help build them up because they'll rely on those strengths when they are in the trenches. But most importantly give them as many tools in their toolbox to be successful on their own and that means things like routines, procedures, and transitions. Teaching them or helping them learn engagement strategies. How do they 'hook' a lesson? Or...because most lessons need some kind of fun hook to make it fun for the students. And then how do you keep them engaged throughout the lesson?
You'll definitely want to be able to talk about your music philosophy. What approaches do you use when teaching and then how do you incorporate other approaches in music education? You'll want to be able to verbalize how you lesson plan, how you long range plan. You'll want to make sure that your student teacher is involved in your performances so if you have a PTA meeting, you want that student teacher to be fully involved in that including being able to maybe conduct a piece or run one of the pieces during the show. And then lead by example through professional growth making sure that they're attending workshops with you.Jessica: Those are great ideas. When the student teachers are with you, what are some ways that you give them feedback to help them along the way?
Tonya: I usually have a notebook specifically for my student teachers and I keep it close by. As they're teaching, I just write down ideas and things that I can share with them and then if the students are transitioning and I can go insert something really quick during the transitions I'll do that during breaks, but most of the time we debrief at the end of the day where we just discuss what went right and what went wrong because the sooner you talk about everything right away then you won't forget what your thoughts were.
Jessica: You know, I always think it's easier to give praise and encouragement. That's kind of the easier side of feedback, but when there's things that maybe they need to reconsider how the lesson went or the things that didn't go so well, how do you still keep it positive and encouraging so that they don't get frustrated or lose - discouraged, but they also know 'hey, this is an area that you can continue to work on.'
Tonya: Yeah and that's exactly what it is. It's just first of all, always being positive. First finding their strengths, but then as you talk to them having them be aware of what they do need to work on, but just to remind them 'oh my goodness. You're at the beginning. Don't worry. You're trying and this will all come in time, but at least you're aware of it.' I'm reading Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess and what a great book this is! But one of the things that he says is you know, there not failures; it's actually just feedback. So if you have a bad day and you feel like a failure, don't see it as a failure, but see it as feedback and how can you take that feedback and where can you make the improvements. And so I hope my student teachers feel like that. That they are constantly finding that whatever's not going well that they can just improve upon that.
Jessica: I still feel like even after all these years that I'm not done growing.
Tonya: Oh gosh no.
Jessica: You know?! It's continuing to be a process and knowing even personally that's encouraging that even on those days when those lessons just don't go right for whatever reason, taking the time to evaluate it and look at it and knowing... that's a great idea. It's not a failure; it's feedback.
Tonya: Oh definitely yes and that's what makes you a great teacher is that you're constantly growing and I think that everybody needs to do that.
Jessica: Yeah. Absolutely. So some of the student teachers that come in, they have an idea of what grade level they want to teach when they get finished teaching and are certified and all of that. Like for my student teaching I did half a semester of high school and I did choir. I absolutely loved it. And then I did my elementary student teaching and loved that and just kind of felt like 'well I probably wouldn't ever do the older grades - that the younger grades were for me,' but a lot of people are on the flip side where they know they're going to do middle school band or high school choir or whatever it is, but they are also required to do that elementary portion. And so for those students who are like going through the motions, but maybe they're not. You know, they're giving it their very best, but they know or they think they know down the road where they're going to be. What advice would you give to those college students as far as what they should do during that portion of their time as a student teacher in the elementary classroom?Tonya: Well definitely learning is power so I think any perspective that you get from your elementary student teaching experience will only help you down the road. I would see student teaching in the elementary field an opportunity to see how elementary music educators build music capabilities from the foundation level. You get to see the elemental process so be open minded and you never know. You might end up absolutely loving the elementary field assignment and you might actually be really good at it. And I think it'll give you perspective and respect for what elementary music educators actually do.
Jessica: I've heard people say that they step into the elementary classroom and they just can't believe all the things that the students are learning and all the things you can with them as an educator.
Tonya: Yes, yes.
Jessica: It changes their minds because you kind of remember your closest experiences so your experience in college or high school and middle school a little fresher, but the elementary experience, I mean, it's incredible what you can do with these students.
Tonya: Yeah, and the mind power that goes into taking those college experience and how to turn it into an elemental concept. Bringing it to the level of the elementary students so that they understand it and that's a skill set that takes time.
Jessica: Yeah. Definitely. What are some things that you do to gain confidence in what I would say is like three big keys and that is classroom management, lesson planning, and organization. 'Cause those are I think three biggies that, you know, they all take time to figure out, but as a mentor I think that's such a special role to be able to help them with.Tonya: Yeah again, I'll always say lead by example, but you have to have a functioning and successful classroom management plan in place yourself and the student teacher again has to learn and experience how to use, teach, and reinforce routines, procedures, and transitions. Things like entering and leaving the classroom, getting into a circle, moving to and from instruments, finding partners and groups. What are your procedures and how do they set up procedures for gathering equipment or instruments? And how do you set and reinforce expectations for creative and organized movement? And then when you set up your transitions, how do you verbalize that and how do you reinforce it using a system approach like CHAMPS, but how do you verbalize that with your kids so that they completely understand your expectations?
Students must experience engagement activities or engagement strategies. Most importantly, how are you going to hook that lesson? How are you going to grab their attention and there's so many fun and exciting ways to hook a lesson, but then how do you continue that engagement throughout the lesson keeping it exciting? You're almost putting on a show, but it's fun! It's a ton of fun and I love it. And then of course your engagement strategies that keep the engagement would be things like games or higher order questioning, high yield strategies like using novelty or humor, movement to keep that engagement.
You know, having a rock solid lesson plan, making sure that your process is clear, and that you're planning things like what questions are you going to ask in the lesson that promote that higher level thinking. Things like that.
Jessica: Yeah. There's so much.
Tonya: Yes. So much. It's a lot and I think that if you really focus on the routines and procedures and also the engagement strategies and then show by example the process when you're teaching and the student teacher can observe that. And of course taking them with you to workshops so that they can see what the process looks like from other instructors.
Jessica: Absolutely. What advice would you give for student teachers? And then what advice would you give for mentors?
Tonya: Okay. So advice for student teachers:
1. Definitely be on time or be early.
I've been so lucky with every one of my student teachers. I have told them 'please beat me to school. Don't let me beat you.' And they have all done that, which I think is fantastic and you know, shows a lot for their character.
2. Have a helpful frame of mind
So be proactive instead of reactive. If you see any place that needs help, stand up and go help out.
3. Think of failure as feedback.
And like I said before from Dave Burgess' book Teach Like a Pirate, think of failure as feedback instead of failure.
4. Take notes
So you won't remember everything. Have a system to capture all of your notes. One of my favorite apps that I use is Evernote. I think of it as a second brain and I drop everything into Evernote and during the summer I'll go through it and kind of weed through it and put it in its place like in a notebook where it needs to be, but capture all of that information 'cause you won't remember it.
5. Ask questions about everything
Don't be afraid and then if you feel like you're asking too many, you're not! Just keep asking questions 'cause that's really going to help you.
6. Teacher journal
And then something that I did a long time ago is I started a teaching journal and I wish I kept up with it because when I look back at what I have written, it's just been really fun to look back at my thoughts as a young teacher and plus just funny things that kids say. It is just such a neat thing to look back, but start that journal. You don't have to write in it every day, but I think 25 years from now when you're in your 25th year of teaching or you're ready to retire, what a fun thing to look back and just see your whole, your life as a teacher. Really neat to see.
7. Communicate with your mentor
And then just don't forget to communicate with your mentor. Communication is key. Don't be afraid to talk to them if you're struggling.
Jessica: I love that you did that teacher journal! That would be fascinating and really just so neat to see those moments of teaching and what it was like and...
Tonya: Definitely and mine started like that, but then I just I was so tickled by the funny things that kids say that I just now a lot of the stuff - I'm reading it - the funny things that kids say and it's just so much fun to read.
Jessica: Yes. I'll start making notes between, you know, you have those five minutes between classes, I'll make little funny notes about what the kids said and they're just...you just never know. Especially like kinder and first grade. I mean, they'll say anything so it's so funny to read.
Tonya: Definitely the joy of teaching isn't it?!
Jessica: Absolutely. Yeah! So what about for mentors? What advice would you give them?
Tonya:
1. Treat them like a colleague
Yes you definitely want to make the student teacher's experience as positive as possible. Like I said before, treat them like a colleague. It's so much fun for them to hear you tell the students 'Look how lucky you are! You have two music teachers.' And then really use that to your advantage. For example, I don't always have my student teacher do my outside duty every day. Sometimes I allow them to stay inside and use that time to work with kids like on a recorder or ukulele or vice versa. Just making sure that we're using that opportunity that we have two music teachers in the building at once. Something that most music teachers don't get to experience because we're so isolated on our own.
2. Give the student teacher their own space in the room
You're going to be sharing your space with them so make sure that the student teacher has their own space in the room. You know, a seat. A desk. Something like that.
3. Give yourself time and space to process
But then also at the end of the day because you are with that student teacher every day and you're always 'on,' after the debrief at the end of the day allow the student teacher to leave so that you have time and space to process what happened that day. Read emails. I know I need that for myself just to kind of get myself settled. Don't feel bad about that.
4. Prepare
And of course you're going to make a list of the types of activities and skills that the student teacher should experience during their time student teaching. Things like:
- Folk dance
- Round
- Orchestration with a borden and ostinato
- Improvisation using the rhythm building blocks
- Music game
- Rhythmic and Melodic concepts
- Creative movement
- Drum ensemble
- Choir warm-up
- Song to choir
- Assessing
- Gradebook
- Activity using a Children's Book
- Recorder
- Ukulele
- Planning (giving them your resources, allowing them to choose the activities based on where the students are and where their needs are, and allow them to try activities that they learned maybe in their college courses
5. Making Visuals
The student teacher should make some visuals because we know that technology sometimes can fail. Have them make rhythm cards, you know, that kind of stuff so that when they are on their own, they won't be completely overwhelmed. As a first year teacher having everything they have to do plus making visuals so I sometimes will tell them, 'these visuals you need to make by the end of the week' or whatever.
6. Communicating with parents
The student teacher should have at least one experience, if not more, communicating with a parent whether it's a positive or negative behavior that they're addressing. I feel like that's important for the student teacher to experience.
7. Professional Growth
And then definitely for them to make sure your student teacher is growing professionally and they see you doing the same. Take them to workshops with you. Talk about some of the books that you read. I know during the summer I always try to pick a few education books in addition to all of my fun books that I get to read that I just enjoy because I can, but also reading something educational. How can you grow during the summer? How can you add to your toolbox?
Jessica: As you're reading everything I'm thinking, 'man! That's an incredible amount of things for the mentor to think about doing, but yet it's all of the things that we do.
Tonya: Absolutely.
Jessica: One of the things I really loved about what you shared - well, there are two things. I loved where you talked about giving the student teacher their own space because they need to feel like they're not just coming and taking over your classroom. They need to really feel like they have a place there.
Tonya: Yes. There a part of the classroom. Yes.
Jessica: I love that you do that and then the other thing that I love that you shared is giving yourself the time to have a little time just to yourself to do the emails and think through things. Just having that time alone to think, I would think, would be really valuable.
Tonya: Yeah and you'll be surprised. That is really important to give yourself that time and not feel bad about it.
Jessica: What has been rewarding for you being a member?
Tonya: Well, I feel so fortunate. All of the student teachers I've had have been phenomenal. I've created lifetime friendships with some of them, but they're neat people that you get to become friends with and you know, some of them I could be their mother. So you know, I start to feel a little bit like they're my own kids. But it is a partnership and you'll feel rewarded with that partnership. Taking advantage of having two music teachers at once.
Another reward is the unique perspective you get from watching your own elementary students from observation mindset. So you know watching the little intricacies of each little kid and things that you don't notice sometimes when you're up in front of the classroom. Even sometimes building those relationships with those elementary kids, you can pull them aside if you feel like you need to talk to them, but I feel like I've been able to build more relationships like that.
I've learned so much myself as a mentor just I'm growing from having to explain so much and I'm making sure I'm covering all my bases or their bases, you know, making sure they have everything they need as a student teacher and so I've grown myself and I'm continuing to grow. You know, you have to think of golly - how am I gonna explain this concept to them and so it really helps you grow as a teacher and as an educator.
Seeing your student teacher's confidence build from the beginning to the end. You know, they come in a little timid, but by the end they're just rocking' and rollin' on their own and it's fun to see that. I just feel very fortunate that I've had the student teachers I've had. They've definitely taught me a lot.
Jessica: Well I know that when we ran into your former student teacher that you were a mentor of and he just like lit up seeing you and then was introducing you to the friends that were around him and seeing the joy that having learned underneath you brought him that that's just so incredibly special and what a really great opportunity we have to invest in the lives of other educators coming up.
Tonya: Oh definitely. What a fun experience it's been to have student teachers and I hope I can continue to help those students.
Jessica: Awesome. Well thank you so much Tonya!
Tonya: Yeah! Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.
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