Student Teacher

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Home : 2002 : March : 28

Student Teacher
By Kris

I totally agree with Deb!!! I would definitely open the lines of communication with this woman! YOU ARE THE EXPERT! YOU KNOW WHAT GOOD TEACHING LOOKS LIKE!! No matter how long you have been teaching, it is longer than
your student teacher. If I were you I would definitely get the university supervisor in on the situation, I really like the idea of an unscheduled, pop-in visit! But, I think you should sit down with the student teacher first and have a talk w/out the supervisor, that way she doesn't feel like she is being ambushed(sp?).
Do you have a meeting time once a week to discuss her progress

so far? If not, I would start there. During that meeting you should just ask her how SHE FEELS things are going. I think you would have good luck with this approach if you come across as a friend/mentor rather than as, "I'm the grader," (not that you are doing that now, but just so she feels comfortable talking).

My guess is that she already knows that she needs to make some changes (hence the grumpity attitude) and she will hopefully be interested in your ideas for improvement. :o) I love Deb's idea of the heart/lightbulb scale!

Try to think of this situation as a parent/teacher conference--you want to hi-lite some positives, but also get your point across that some changes must be made.
Honesty is the best policy in this situation! Good Luck! :o)