My first week of student teaching is about over! How crazy is that!? I decided to create a list of my top 10 student teacher tips for my fellow students teachers and those to come!
1. Make the most of it. If I had a quarter for every time someone told me that before I began student teaching, I would be rich! However, it is so true! (especially now). It’s your time to gain experience and insight from your cooperating teacher. You’ll never get this experience again.
2. Ask all the questions. As I stated before you’ll never get this experience again so ask all the questions! Your cooperating teacher is there to provide insight and help you become the best teacher you can be! Trust me no question is a silly question when you’re learning.
3. Plan Ahead. Since you are not a veteran teacher you don’t have a stockpile of lesson plans and materials. Therefore plan ahead and gather everything you need prior. Also, don’t be afraid to ask your cooperating teacher for items, I’m sure they have lots to give!
4. Don’t Give Up. This is most likely your first time being completely in charge of a whole teacher work-load. It’s going to be crazy and chaotic sometimes. Give yourself some grace. You’ll get the hang of it, it’s called practice for a reason.
5. Time Management. This somewhat goes along with Plan Ahead but also don’t pull all your effort into student teaching that you get burned out. Yes student teaching takes a lot of effort and a lot of your time, but remember you’re only human. Take some time to breathe. Also, speaking of time be on time, do things on time, and don’t let the time get away from you.
6. Meet as much of the staff as you can. Getting connections within the school can help you see how other teachers teach, but also may help you get a job down the line as people can vouch for you.
7. Keep a journal. It’s super easy and you can write down tips or things that you see that you would want to implement into your own classroom some day. It also helps with keeping a checklist of things you need to do.
8. Start getting to know the students as soon as possible. This one is major because you need to start learning students’ names. If you’re like me and teach middle school you’re going to have about 175 students’ names to learn so it never hurts to start early.
9. Communicate! Communication is key. Make sure you communicate with your cooperating teacher about everything! Don’t be afraid to speak up if you’re feeling overwhelmed or if there is something you need. Also, don’t forget to communicate with your university supervisor they are there to help you out too!
10. Have fun! Seriously with everything going on with student teaching it can get very chaotic. However, this is your time to experience what it will like to have your own classroom so make the most of it and have fun!
One thought on “Student Teaching Tips”
Comments are closed.
I love your tips. You have really good insight.