Back in the Classroom: Notes from a Teacher Educator

Abstract

What happens when an experienced teacher educator assumes the role of regular substitute in a middle school? For three months, I had this opportunity in a school serving predominantly low-income, minority students. The occasion followed a work relocation that granted me an interim period that I proposed to use for practical, professional development. Normally this time would have been spent otherwise-course workups, professional reading, or perhaps research and writing. But at this juncture, I wanted something more concrete and adventuresome-not exactly the Indiana Jones variety of excitement, but certainly something that challenged me at a more instinctive level. And, indeed, all that I wanted I found, simply by entering the doors of Highland Middle School. I had received a call from Highland requesting that I fill in an entire week for a language arts teacher. When I arrived on Monday morning, all the signs of challenge were present. Students milling about school grounds and in hallways appeared huge and uninhibited. My petite frame and reserved demeanor seemed less than adequate for the challenge ahead. The most jarring contrast came in the form of racial differences, however. For the first time in my life, I was a member of a 3 percent racial minority, and, while not alarming, this difference gave me a new perspective on the problems of being a minority. In the months to follow, I would progress from a feeling of isolation and marginal significance to a sense of secure belonging. I made this transition, and others, by reflecting on each day's events and trying to figure out how to make things work between me and my students.