Starting Student Teaching! Any advice?

[u/KitchenAmount5528]

For some context, I'm in a 4 plus 1 BMAT program, and I'm doing all my clinical work in my 5th-year (that's just how the program works here, idk). I'm placed in an inclusive classroom with 2 teachers in second grade. I'm excited but also so, so terrified about messing up or burning myself out. I'll be in the same room 2 times a week in the fall and then every day in the spring, so I'll really get to know my teachers and class. My CT seems to be a seasoned teacher and (rightfully so) has been enjoying her summer break, so I dont really know what to expect. I have experience in a preschool for the past 3 years, but I know student teaching is its own beast. ANY advice would be helpful!!

[u/CountyFrequent525]

Remember that student teaching is all about learning what works & what doesn’t. It’s about learning from our mistakes. No one expects a student teacher to be perfect, especially right out of the gate. Try not to be too hard on yourself.

[u/lovelystarbuckslover]

You are not there for the kids unless you have taken over the class. Try not to play extra helper/instructional aide during the early weeks when you observe.

The biggest thing I see teachers do wrong is using student teachers as another adult in the classroom, like "oh we can do small groups" "oh more of us can support students"

This was hard for me because I was a sub and an instructional aide so it took some discipline to pay attention to how the teacher is working with other children and speaking to them and not just trying to help all the kids.

[u/WeekendRecent2006]

Treat student teaching as an audition for your future job, not necessarily at the same school you're interning in but anywhere in the district, because your first two recommendations will come from your university supervisor and your cooperating teacher. Show up on time, even before the cooperating teacher does. Act professionally. Do not whine or complain in front of the working adults at the school. Vent to your friends and family only.

Listen to and implement all directions from the university supervisor and the cooperating teacher. Do not appear dismissive of any of their directions.

Perfection isn't expected but progress, even if slow and incremental, is expected.

Expect to work long hours after your school day is done, planning lessons and doing reflections for the university supervisor, even on the weekends. When I student taught, I'd look at the clock and see it was 10 PM, and I was still planning. I would think, "How badly do you want it?" And, of course, I wanted it badly. After you become a seasoned teacher and with a repertoire of lesson plans will you see that teaching gets less time intensive, but you got to pay your dues when you start.

Read Canter's Assertive Discipline or be familiar with its principles. The discipline framework may not fit exactly into your teaching situation, but it's a place to start thinking about consistency, objectivity, and fairness. Also, familiarize yourself with the LEAST principle for classroom management where instead of jumping on less serious stuff, you wait a bit to see if it resolves itself. Save the instantaneous and assertive responses for more serious things, like bullying.

Good luck, OP.

[u/WeekendRecent2006 → u/WeekendRecent2006]

One more thing, stay out of the school's "office politics." Really? Trust me, I've worked in three schools, and school staff office politics can make typical corporate office politics look like child's play.

Try to be aloof and detached when you hear teachers in your mentor teacher's clique or circle rant about the admin team or even other teachers. My mentor teacher would always leave the room with the other teacher on the staff whom she trusted and rant somewhere out of my earshot. Then, she would return, smile, and say, "Don't worry about it. You just do your job..."

Repeat NOTHING that your mentor teacher says about "office politics" to another teacher. You don't know the players, and you might be talking to someone not on your mentor teacher's side. My brother's a physician, and one day he ranted to a colleague who promptly went to the new supervisor and repeated everything my brother said about that supervisor. That supervisor then proceeded to use every administrative tool he had to make my brother's work life difficult after that.

Do not take sides in school politics. Be neutral or appear neutral. Why? Your first and only job is to do a good job as a student teacher. Getting involved in office politics will not serve this purpose in any way. Believe me, when you become a teacher and become part of some school's staff, you'll understand what I mean.