So You Have a Student Teacher!
For the next few weeks, you are not only going to be a teacher but also going to be a cooperating teacher. You have a big opportunity to expand your service by teaching someone else how to teach. Be a great mentor for the student teacher. The student teacher is not placed into your room to do all of your work and for you to have a free ride. You should count it a great honor to help and mentor him to be the best teacher possible. This is teamwork.
Before the student teacher arrives
- Prepare a desk or table for him. Provide copies of the textbooks, workbooks, manuals, classroom rules, and class roll. Include a list of students who need special care, such as students who regularly take medication.
- Explain to the students what will be the student teacher’s role within the classroom. Point out that this other teacher is a teacher and should be shown respect.
- Ask students to write letters of introduction,addressed to the student teacher. Encourage them to tell about themselves, their hobbies, and their interests. This activity will help the student teacher become familiar with students quickly.
Right from the Beginning
- Keep communication open.Don’t let things go on that are not right in hopes that they will improve. Keep the accounts short and take care of problems right away.
- Refrain from making corrections to the student teacher in front of the class.Take notes and discuss things when students are not present.
- Keep in touch with the university supervision at all times. If there is a problem, the university should be involved immediately. Conferences should be held between the cooperating teacher and the university supervisor several times during the teaching experience.
- Plan to go over written reports on the student teacher with the student teacher before they are turned in to the university. The student teacher should not have any surprises.
The First Day
- Make introductions to the administration, school personnel, and other faculty members.
- Give the student teacher a tour of the building, pointing out where materials and other resources for teacher use are kept. Also advise him about any local resources that may be available through the county, the state, or private organizations.
- Present a notebook for the two of you to write in. Explain that you will update the journal daily, commenting on the student teacher’s performance and offering suggestions. In return, the student teacher is also to write comments or questions to be discussed.
As the Days Progress
- The student teacher will move into teaching gradually, spending some time observing you and becoming familiar with the class before taking over duties.
- On the elementary level, let him begin with some routine activities,such as getting lunch count, reading stories, calling out spelling words, checking homework, and monitoring bathrooms. On the secondary level, he may take attendance, pass out papers, grade quizzes, and record grades. In two weeks let him take on the responsibility of teaching one subject area and the following week add another until he has assumed all of the teaching responsibilities. Leave the classroom for short periods of time and eventually leave the room for the day. The student teacher should always know where the cooperating teacher will be in case of an emergency.
- After he has taught a lesson, ask your student teacher to write down how things went during the class. He should include things that went well and ways that he would change the lesson if he were to teach it again. It is important that he have a self-evaluation of the performance.
- Include in the daily journal pictures of different lessons—bulletin boards, visuals, games, field trips, or special occasions that the student teacher has been involved in planning or participating.
- Open your files to the student teacher. He will be able to benefit from the valuable resources that you have collected through the years. However, the student teacher should be creative and come up with some ideas, games, strategies, and visuals and not rely on cooperating teachers all of the time. You may be able to glean many new ideas from the student teacher.
- Include him in all extra duties that a teacher performs. He should attend all faculty meetings, parent/teacher conferences, PTA meetings, fairs, field trips, and bus and lunch duty, workshops, home visits, and any other meetings that are required of the teacher. Student teachers on the secondary level should attend at least one athletic event and perhaps a school play or concert.
- Let you student teacher handle all discipline problems when he is teaching the class, following the guidlines that you have set down.
- Involve the student in writing newsletters or notes home to the parents. You should approve them before they are sent out to the parents
Above all, enjoy the time you have with your student teacher, helping him, challenging him, and even learning from him. For he too is a student in your keeping.