recent student teacher

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recent student teacher
By Colleen

Hi Debbie,
I just want to let let you know that your student teacher is feeling just as, if not more nervous than you. I just finished my practicum in April. I had the opportunity to teach with 3 great teachers. However,
i did not always feel that way while in the classroom. In my first placement I worked between two grade one teachers. This was an excellent opportunity because i got to do a lot of teaching between the two classes. I team planned with the teachers, they welcomed my ideas and challenged me to take on all aspects of the job. I created the units, found all the resources the students

would need, I organized the guest speakers, made all lesson plans and worksheets, and praticipated in parent teacher-interviews. The teachers and I often stayed until 8:00 pm planning and organizing. I also stayed many nights on my own to get things ready. These teachers made me feel welcome and respected my ideas. They let me know if something worked and if it did not work. If it did not work I would reintroduce the information in a different format the next day. We had regular feedback sessions and i had the opportunity to see how much planning goes into an integrated unit of study.
I got very little sleep but I loved every minute of my time there. I still keep in contact with these teachers and ask for their guidance.

My second practicum was a disappointment until I did a LTO (took over a class for a teacher on leave), immediately after I graduated. This teacher was very controlling. I got to teach maybe 30 minutes a day, and I taught things like handwriting, or I did the daily novel reading. I washed paintbrushes and cleaned up after the students. I did some conferencing and marking, but I felt as though I was a volunteer in the class. Needless to say I did not feel any connection to this class or the teacher because I was not welcomed or allowed to teach. The positive was that I wrote several pieces of text with questions and created several word study booklets. Another positive was that the teacher was very organized and I have incorporated many of her ideas into my class setup. I am thankful to my first practicum teachers, they beleived in me and gave me the opportunity to prove myself.

If the school is giving you the opportunity to train a student-teacher they obiously feel you have something to offer, but please remember that you know how to teach. The practicum is about sharing your skills and knowledge with others. Your student-teacher should have the opportunity to experience exactly what it is like to be a teacher (planning, phone calls home, yard duty, finding resources, planning field trips, fund raisering, marking, report cards, teaching lessons, reflecting, modifications, accommodations)

I will have my own grade 4/5 split class for September and now wish that I had more oppotunities to visit other classrooms to see a variety of approaches while I was on my practicum.

My biggest piece of advise, allow your student teacher as many different experinces as possible. The more he/she is involved in the class and school the more satisfying the experience will be for both of you. Hope this helps!

Sincerely, Colleen