While I would like to know how she thinks you will "mess up her
kids," I think that it is somewhat unreasonable of your mentor
to expect you to teach in the same way she does. I think you
and your mentor need to come to some agree about what is
effective classroom management. Since you seem dedicated to
teaching French in a manner that requires lot of student
engagement (for the sake of gaining proficiency - I assume),
you will not able to institute a tight regime without a
sacrifice of the openness and willingness to explore that you
need to encourage in learning another language. I also think
that forcing someone to adapt someone else's classroom
management philosophy is problematic because you will not able
to follow through consistently if you do not believe in the
rules that you are enforcing.

While I am far from a master teacher, I think you need to try
to come to an agreement about how to handle the relationship
going forward. The students need to be active if they are going
to engage in the material in a lasting ways. Je suis prof de
français au lycée, donc je vous souhaite la bonne chance avec
tout cela.

On 10/14/09, 4 year wrote:
> hello!
>
> I am teaching upper grade French on a cart - this is new
> job..i love it..the kids are great..the school is great.
> One of the classrooms I go into, the teacher has been
> teaching 35 years and she is my mentor. She is a lot
> different than me, not only in teaching but in personality
> as well. So I go in on my cart - I teach a lesson, and I
> think its going great..some of the kids my talk here and
> there but nothing major..she will not think so. She is
> really strict and blunt, she wants things taught in a
> certain way, she doesn't want you to mess up her kids (5th
> grade). I am trying to work with her and change my teaching
> style, which is interactive, upbeat, I smile all the
> time..its something I do lol. She wants me to be a hard
> ass ..do you think this is reasonable? I am going to have
> change my demenor/teaching style either way if I want to
> keep this job..how does one that????? Any master teachers
> out there have any advice??

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