Working in schools notes

1.
Mr. Palmer: Working with mentor teachers
BEFORE SESSION:
What do you hope to gain from this session? What questions would you like to
answer? What skills would you like to develop?

What are you supposed to keep in mind when you talk to your mentor
teacher?

If you have been friends with your mentor teacher for years, what new social
rules apply now that you're in a more professional situation?
NOTES DURING SESSION (optional):

Professional emails
o
Start w/hi or hello
o
Add extra spaces between paragraphs

Identity
o
Needy student teachers

Needing affirmation from students - being buddies with

students, trying to be on their level, etc.

Criticize other teachers

o
Knowing more than the cooperating teacher - if so, approach from
point of humility
o
Personal/professional boundary

Student teachers have used their classes as therapy sessions

o
Sharing age-inappropriate content

Showing R-rated movies, etc.

Expectations
o
Bad examples

"I thought you were making the copies"

"I'm really stressed, can you take over for a few days?"

"I didn't know I had to do all that"

"The cooperating teacher keeps stepping in every time I'm

supposed to be teaching"
o
Good

Setting and communicating expectations

What are your goals?

What does a successful internship look like?

You need to clearly set your expectations

Things to say off the bat

Ask them what they're looking for

[Be specific]
o
Practice conversation

Why are you here?

This is who I am/this is why I'm here

These are the experiences I need

This is my timeline

I don't know yet

Check in about it after the first week?

I would be uncomfortable if
What are your cooperating teacher's expectations?

How will I know what to do each day?

What will lesson planning look like?

Make sure you get a lot of feedback along the way so that there isn't a
time where it all comes crashing down. Tell your mentor teacher that
you're willing to take direct feedback.
Idea: Have exit ticket to get student feedback. What is one aspect of
this lesson that worked really well for you? Where is a place you got
confused? (Sets up a great distinction - feedback is about lesson not who
you are.) Good idea to phrase questions in a way that won't make you cry
- "what's a suggestion for next time" instead of "what was your least
favorite part"

REFLECTION AFTER SESSION:

It really surprised me that Mr. Palmer said the biggest problem they had with
student teachers was that they were needy, and that they showed their neediness
in inappropriate ways like trying to be buddies with students and talking badly
about other teachers. He said that it was important to make sure that if you had a
needy personality, you worked on getting your needs met by friends and before you
started student teaching or doing an internship. My biggest takeaway was the
importance of having a conversation about expectations, and learning how to have
that conversation, because I am not used to having that kind of conversation so my
first question of course was how to do it. His guidance in having the expectations
conversation has given me topics I am planning to focus on in my mind and make
sure I address with my mentor teacher when I talk to her.
2. Ms. Duffy: Health in Schools
BEFORE SESSION:
What do you hope to gain from this session? What questions would you like to
answer? What skills would you like to develop?

What do you do behind the scenes/when you're not talking to kids in the
clinic?

What are you supposed to do in emergencies while waiting for 911 to arrive
NOTES DURING SESSION (optional):

Your responsibilities
o
Know how to identify kids w/IHP and life threatening health conditions
o
Know what signs indicate emergencies for them
o
Follow legal accommodations on INP
o
Include IHPs in subfolder
o
On field trips, bring kids' Epi-pens
o
Don't provide food for your students w/o written permission
o
Read IHPs
REFLECTION AFTER SESSION:
Biggest takeaways:

You can get sued for so many things!

Rules change all the time so make sure you know them
Teachers have a big responsibility to make judgments about kids' safety and
health. They are supposed to notice when someone is sick and doesn't know it,
while noticing if someone claiming to have a health crisis is being dramatic and
can stay in class. You're not supposed to have kids leave class excessively, but
if you have them stay in class and they're really sick, that's really bad and
you'll get in big trouble and the kid might die.
If a kid is having an allergic reaction and has no EpiPen. don't use anyone
else's EpiPen on them. Even if this means they die before 911 gets there. (Wtf
is this rule)
Many kids who seem to be sick or hurt a lot have something else going on
and benefit emotionally from spending time in the nurse's office.
3. Officer Trizuto: School safety and discipline

BEFORE SESSION:
What do you hope to gain from this session? What questions would you like to
answer? What skills would you like to develop?

I see you in the halls almost every day having conversations with staff
members and looking serious or walking around like you're looking for
somebody. What kind of stuff are you doing day-to-day? Do a lot of serious
safety threats happen in our school every day and we're just not aware of it?

What do resource officers do? Does most of it have to do with things that are
actually illegal, or do you do a lot with behavior and other stuff too?

How often do emergencies happen here?

When you're talking with teachers, what are you usually talking about?

Do you have the same training and everything as a police officer who doesn't
work in a school?

What is the biggest emergency that's ever happened at Sammamish?

What do you and the other staff do to keep safety situations from getting out
of hand?
NOTES DURING SESSION (optional):

When kids tell you something you're not allowed to keep a secret
"I need to tell you something but I don't want anything to happen"
"Well, I can't do that. I can listen to you and I can help you, but I can't promise
that I won't need to get somebody else involved to help us more."
If they are involved in drugs and they tell you, it's best to lead them to selfreport and tell them you'll be there for them.

"If you can save one, or get through to one, even if it's not all of them, you
won."
REFLECTION AFTER SESSION:
That was one of the most inspiring presentations/class visits I've ever heard. It stood
out to me how much she associated school safety with mental health, and
understood the importance of kids emotions in how they act. I loved how she didn't
focus on punishment and "everyone's bad and I have to fix them" but she talked
about how to really help kids who make bad choices. I can tell she values every kid

regardless of the choices they make. I also love her approach to telling kids that you
aren't allowed to keep what they said confidential. And her openness.