be yourself

Teach well.

I’m a teacher who recently hosted one student teacher in my classroom and am about to host another. I would say just be as organized as you can. For instance:

Find out what your projects will be for the coming semester and tell the teacher about them ahead of time so s/he can help you brainstorm and can budget the time for them.

Suggest a regular meeting (once a week is nice, or once every other week) with the teacher and bring questions you have collected throughout the week to discuss at that meeting.

Share resources or ideas that you encounter in your credential program that you think the teacher would appreciate and/or be able to use.

Arrive on time (or early) every day and offer to help the teacher prepare the classroom for the kids.

Prepare the lessons that you are teaching as thoroughly as you can. Offer to take on one consistent piece of the daily curriculum so that you can practice it and get better at it over time.

Good luck! What grade are you working with?

great answer Sarah! I’m not sure yet which grade but it’ll be 1–5 one of those grades. How often did your student teacher actually teach the class? What was her/his schedule like in your classroom? What grade do you teach? Is it in ny?

Be on time or early. Actually do the work you’re supposed to do completely. For example, if you’re supposed to have a pre-approved lesson plan for a given day’s lesson, make sure you don’t think you’re going to “just wing it” and write it up later. :^> Actually get the plan together and get it approved ahead of time. Show that you’re actually listening to the advice you’re getting and incorporating it into what you do for that teacher. Ask for feed back if you aren’t getting enough of it.

So, basically. Pay attention. Do your job. Ask for assessment.

Cheers!

well written cindy thanks! What time do most teachers have to be in work by?

Nope, I teach in Oakland, CA. Third grade. My student teacher was with me all day on Mondays, and in the mornings on Tuesday-Thursday. She did not come in on Fridays. The amount that she taught the class increased gradually over time. She started out working one-on-one with kids and “floating” during work times answering questions. Then she started to lead simple, non-academic routines like our Morning Meetings. A few weeks after that she took charge of a reading group of 4 students, whom she met with every day for about 25 minutes. Towards the middle of the semester she started teaching whole-class lessons, between two and three per week. At the end of the semester she taught for a full morning. This was all during the first semester of the year. Now she will have a new placement, and by the end of this second semester she will be teaching for a full week, 5 consecutive days (as will the new person being placed with me).

Teachers at my school are there between 6:45 and 7:45am. School starts at 8:00.

if a teacher agrees to participate and have student teachers such as yourself how does that work? Do you sign up somewhere? Do you get a pay increase? Hows that work?

I offered to host a student teacher from the program where I got my credential. I do not get paid but I do get professional development units.

Ok, sarahsugs said it better than I did. :^> I’m sure she can give you a lot more information than I could.

I apologize if this us a stupid question but what do you mean by professional developmental units?

also what do you say/ do if a child asks a question in which you dont know the answer. Ive been told to say ” well how bout you look it up for hw tonight for extra credit and u let me know the answer” is that okay to do that?

I used to say, “I’m not sure, but I can help you find that out” and make sure you follow through.

be willing to do what you’re asked, and do it well and in a timely manner. be willing to come in early and stay late. volunteer to do more than you’re asked to do, and do obvious things that need to be done even if you’re not asked – make sure you’re not stepping on toes here – i don’t mean pick up and grade a set of tests you haven’t been asked to grade – but if the classroom’s messy and needs to be straightened up – take care of it.

above all else – be professional! with the students, with the teachers – if a teacher provides you constructive criticism, accept it and work on it – don’t be defensive.

I’m a teacher and I student taught. Do what they tell you to do even if you don’t agree 100%. Remember that you’re there to learn from the teacher and that those students are still his/her responsibility, not yours. When it’s your tearn to teach, do it your way. You may give the teacher a lesson or two just by observing you. ”...must be the change you wish to see.” Be professional. Come to work on time and dress professionally even if it’s a relaxed atmosphere. Remember that student teaching is like a 6–8 week interview. Don’t let them catch you slipping! Go to the staff meetings too.

@missjena, Professional development units are used in some districts to calculate one’s pay scale. They are necessary in some states to keep your crediential current and valid. They mean that you have continued to pursue professional development (ie, training and study) after your degree or credential.

If a child asks you a question to which you don’t know the answer, I don’t think it is fair to tell them to look it up and get back to you. I agree with Cyndy that you should just say you don’t know the answer and either tell the child you will find out and get back to him/her, or help him/her find the answer. That way the child learns that adults don’t have all the answers, and gets to participate in an authentic process of learning new information. There is no reason to hide from a child that you don’t know everything.

Great answers! Yeah your right I’ll just tell them I’ll find out for them and I’m not sure of the answer. Before the year starts the teacher gets a curriculum right? What does that look like and who gives it to you? I apologize for all the questions I’m just really interested.

As soon as you accept a job, I would ask the person who hired you to send a copy of your curriculum. You may even ask to see it when you interview. That may not be possible, but it shows your interest in following what has been layed out be the district.
Most schools will keep a copy in the department, the office, and possibly the media center. However, these days it may just be sitting on a network drive. Some district website may contain curriculum or at least course descriptions.

Regarding your first question,be courteous/engaging with office staff, custodians, other teachers in the department is a big plus.

Your curriculum question is entirely dependent on the district/school. It can also vary by subject area. There are some schools (mine is one) that purchase very little packaged curricula, instead leaving it up to the teachers to plan and implement their instruction of the state standards according to how they see fit. There are other schools that rely exclusively on scripted curricula, where each lesson in each subject area for each day of the year is written out in full (I hope you are not teaching in one of those schools!). At my school for example, we recently purchased an excellent math curriculum, called Singapore Math, from which we draw most of our math lessons. We are always free to supplement or replace lessons with other resources or ideas (some administrations are okay with this flexibility and others are not – mine is). We also purchased a phonics intervention curriculum for struggling readers, and the lower grades use an English language development program as many of our students come in not speaking English. However, we have no packaged curriculum for reading or writing. Instead we draw from a wide range of resources and models to teach literacy. We likewise have no packaged curriculum for science or social studies, instead relying on units that teachers at the school have developed over the years and that improve steadily over time.

In my (unsolicited! :-)) opinion, as a new teacher it is incredibly helpful to be handed curriculum. The more the better. HOWEVER, it should come with the understanding that you are a professional educator who will decide when and how you want to use that curriculum and when you want to deviate from it according to your beliefs and the needs of your particular students. Too often these days teachers are denied the opportunity to use their creativity, innovation, and professional experience in deciding how to teach their own students.

Sorry for the rant. As you can see I have strong feelings about this issue. I’m sure your head teacher will be able to answer your questions more specifically about the district where you are student teaching.

I was a student teacher and the experience ended up being overall good and I got a decent summative report but it wasn’t altogether a great, great experience . I learned more what I don’t want to be like than what I’d like to be like..

my biggest advice would be to just shut up, take whatever they give you, if you have any criticism just take it that they know better and work with curriculum. I got into a lot of trouble because my MT told me to create a test, and instead of teaching the whole unit I covered only what I would have put on the test (along with a few extras, of course). I got in massive trouble for not covering everything in the unit. And this sounds really bad but I felt that my unit review and test organization was better and fairer than hers.

It’s honestly a weird mix between being yourself and following the standards of another teacher.