Today I taught a math lesson, which I have been doing at least twice a week so I am use to the protocols and the proper order of which we do things throughout the lesson. At the days end I revisited the literacy and math lesson I taught to my students with my mentor. As I am teaching my MT walks around the room monitors how I am teaching, student interactions, questions, answers I provide or how I respond to the students questions etc. So, during the debriefing we discuss all the notes she wrote down while I taught.
One thing she had pointed out to me was that I did not need to spend that much time on the warm up, I only need to narrow down in on the part where the students had made mistakes but could quickly skip over the parts that came easier to them. Especially since this warm up was going over their homework from the weekend and since I had graded it that morning, I know what problems I needed to address with them and what problems I did not.
This was very helpful to me not only because I am currently planning the math lesson but it helps to have that constructive feedback so I can improve on my teaching and narrow in on skills that I would like to acquire or make a strength and no longer a weakness. After she finished her comments I went back and re-played the lesson I taught in my head. The more I thought about it the more she was right, as I walked around the classroom a majority of the students had already done several steps that I could have skipped over and not have been so explicit about that way I could spend more time assessing their problem with having correct intervals with their line plots. This also helped me realize that it is highly important for me to really monitor what the students are doing at their desks and gage my pace off how well they are understanding the current tasks.
Overall, today was a great reflection day for myself and made me really appreciative to have the MT that I have. My MT for 401/402 never gave me feedback nor bothered to watch my lessons so it really helps to have someone who is willing to provide feedback and ask me what I would like to work on so she can better assist me and be a better mentor.
It sounds like you have a productive relationship with your MT! You might also think of doing this activity when she teaches: take notes when she teaches and then go over it with her. You can ask her questions about specific decisions she made, and, as she explains her thinking to you, you will understand more of the practical knowledge that she has (which may remain hidden simply through observation, since you don't have access to what she is actively thinking while she is teaching).
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