Student teaching is the most important of your teaching curricula. It serves as a hands-on experience that fulfills your teaching certification. Every textbook you’ve read, and every plan you’ve practiced writing can now be implemented! During your practicum, you’ll observe, plan, prepare, and reflect. You’ll develop lesson plans and tweak them during and after instruction. While in your mentor teacher’s classroom, you’ll see classroom management and will begin to cultivate a preference for your own style. You might be nervous, and that’s okay. Sometimes you need a little student teacher help! Just remember you’ve got this! And you’ll be successful!
During student teaching, you will grow through the three levels:
- the observer
- the student, and finally…
- the teacher.
In this blog post, we’ll focus on the first level of student teaching – being an observer! We’ll go over what you can do as you begin the student teaching experience.
Before you begin, I want to share one more key message: Give yourself grace. At first glance, take these next 3 parts of the student teaching blog series as small checklists. REMEMBER, you don’t have to know everything or do everything. When you start feeling overwhelmed, remind yourself to take it easy – take it one thing at a time! AND BE YOU! There’s no one like you, and that’s the best part
You got this; I mean it!
If you’re new here, hello! You’re reading part 2 of a 4-part student teacher help blog series! Check out the first part of the series here: No More Stress: Learn All About How to Prepare for Student Teaching! In the first blog post, I’ll set you up with everything you need to consider before you start your student teaching experience!
If you’re looking for a printable guide as you prepare for student teaching, click here to download your copy of the Student Teaching Success Guide!
If you’re looking for a printable guide as you prepare for student teaching, click here to download your copy of the Student Teaching Success Guide!
Student Teaching Placement
LEVEL ONE: THE OBSERVER
#1 – Clean up social media.
Scrub each of your social media accounts. Switch to private settings where possible.
#2 – Enjoy the experience.
Be excited. Ride the waves. Don’t do this alone if you don’t want to.
#3 – Make good impressions.
Greet anyone and everyone.
#4 – Befriend office staff.
Office staff are the gatekeepers to the school. They’re also incredibly hardworking and often a major backbone for the school. Acknowledge them, respect them, and genuinely get to know them!
#5 – Get a copy of your building and district handbook.
Review building, district, staff, and student handbooks. You want to be on the same page as everyone else.
#6 – Collaborate as much as you can, however you can.
Grade teams often work together – ask to join grade-level meetings. Ask questions about every decision or action. Share ideas.
#7 – Show initiative.
Show interest. Don’t wait if you know you can help.
#8 – Take photos. Take notes.
Gather as much info as you can. Later, the notes and photos will be helpful to refer to when you begin setting up your own room.
#9 – Keep a next year notebook.
You will have ah-ha moments… moments where you see something you like and 100% want to bring to your classroom. Keep a list or a section of your notebook that will be your “next year” ideas.
#10 – Avoid the drama and gossip.
It’s unfortunate that every job or workplace has drama and gossip. Try your best to stay away from it, it never goes well.
Before you go…
Save this blog post and come back to it as you navigate through these growing stages in your student teaching journey! Use each stage as a small checklist. Try a few, or try them all! Looking for additional guidance and support? Book a free 20-minute session with me to talk about your upcoming or current student teaching experience; click here.
Here are some additional reads for student teacher help you may be interested in:
- No More Stress: Learn All About How to Prepare for Student Teaching
- How to Get the Most Out of Student Teaching (and 4 Things to Avoid)
And don’t forget to download your Student Teacher Success Guide to hit the ground running on Day 1!
Let me know in the comments: Of the 10 tips and advice above, which do you plan on giving a try? And if you’re in the midst of your student teaching experience, which tip resonates most with you? I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!
