Let me clarify

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Home : 2004 : November : 29

Let me clarify
By Connie

When I first signed up to have a student teacher, I thought I was going to learn the newest approaches. Instead, I found someone so turned off to teaching by her four years taking education courses that part of my job was
to show her that teaching was worth it. I really loved my first student teacher and supervising and working with her was fun because she had a great attitude and worked as hard as I did.
Most of my other student teachers have been enjoyable but not as enthusiastic or committed as my first and one was a nightmare for both me and my students. She had parent complaints, scandals, and didn't

work weekends! She was even more work than a typical student with all the extra meetings she generated.

I'm trying to give you the perspective of the risks a teacher takes by accepting a student teacher. If you think that all cooperating teachers think having a student teacher is like a vacation, then you don't understand a really good experience. I spend virtually all my "free" time and lunch, after school, some evenings with them at my home for dinner, etc with my student teacher. I won't accept one if I don't have the time and mental energy to do so. For this time investment, my students may benefit from one extra teacher at times, but I don't feel I do personally. I also keep up by constantly researching and going to conferences and have so many hours beyond my masters' I stopped counting.

So, you can take my advice or leave it. Student teaching can be a great experience for both sides if you come in with a great attitude and not thinking you should be paid (an example of a very bad attitude). It is part of your training, like an extended lab. I have a daughter in medical school who does lots of valuable service in hospitals and doesn't get paid one dime. That's part of her experience and she just accepts it. Most of us went through student teaching and remember it being very hard and time consuming.

I hope you go into your student teaching eager to learn as much as you can with a good attitude.
Connie