Student teaching is a period of time, usually between 8 and 16 weeks, in which a graduate education college student works in a classroom alongside and in place of the regular teacher. Length of time is up to each particular university. There is no pay for this type of internship, as it is typically a requirement for completion of the program. Student teaching is the student’s opportunity to gain real life experience in a classroom and demonstrate the skills and knowledge they’ve gained so far in their program.

Challenges a Student Teacher Faces While Teaching Remotely

Doing student teaching during a period of remote learning will be particularly tricky. It can be more difficult to make connections with the cooperating teacher, staff members, students, and parents of students. Making connections and forming good relationships is the backbone of student teaching, and it is imperative that this continue, even while experiencing remote learning programs.

It also may be difficult to determine the level of the student. With younger children, it is hard to know exactly what they did on their own or what their parent or sibling may have helped them with. If a paper or assignment comes in perfectly done, yet the student exhibits struggles with the same content virtually, a teacher must question the issue and find a way to assess the student on their own.

Technology glitches can throw a wrench into student teaching. Whether the glitch is with the internet connection or actual device being used, it is frustrating to not have things go as planned. This can happen with students in the class, the cooperating teacher, or the student teacher. It will be important to note what the process is to get these issues fixed before beginning the experience with remote learning.

Additionally, many districts have not done extensive work with remote learning before last spring. While there are some districts that had plenty of experience with it and have had 1:1 device programing for years, it is more likely that a district is still somewhere in between and has not had a myriad of experiences. The district is still learning how to implement these programs, the cooperating teacher may still be learning how to implement remote learning, and so the student teacher will be learning along with all of the counterparts in the system. That can make things more difficult. Use it as an opportunity to come up with solutions for problems that occur and suggest them to the cooperating teacher. All ideas will be welcome!

Strategies for Connecting with Students while Student Teaching

There are many ways to connect with students during the student teaching semester. Before making any contacts, run the communication plan by the cooperating teacher to be sure that all school and district policies and protocols are observed. The general rule is that the older the child is, the more direct connection there will be with that child and a little less with the parent. If it is a younger child, there will be more parent connection and the child connection may be under supervision of the parent.

Regardless of the type of communication used, it is wise to keep a communication log and go through it with the cooperating teacher each week. Decide upon methods that work best for the student and family.

One way to connect is through Zoom or Google Hangouts or some kind of online video program that the district has endorsed. That direct face-to-face connection over the computer gives a chance to see what the student’s body language is like and to allow the student/family to see the student teacher smiling and engaging with them.

Along with doing group online video programs, consider setting up individual sessions with students to make sure they are getting what they need and that they are making that important connection to their student teacher. Emailing and calling are also good ways to keep in contact with the student and family. The age of the child and the preference of the family will determine what works best. Some younger students have enjoyed getting snail mail from school staff as well. A cheery note in the mail is fun for a child to receive. It also may help them to want to practice writing skills by sending a note back.

Personal Qualities Can Make or Break the Experience

There are personal qualities that a student teacher may exhibit that will enhance the experience or, if they are not seen, will negatively affect the experience. A student teacher needs to be able to seek and accept constructive feedback. This sounds easy, but for some beginning student teachers, it may be hard not to take this feedback personally. The cooperating teacher and student teacher supervisor are there to give suggestions and will expect that those suggestions be taken and implemented immediately.

Arguing or giving the impression that feedback is not warranted will cause the supervisors in the field to have a negative view of the student teacher and will not bode well when it is time for reference checks for jobs. Feedback is critical to every staff member’s well being and even excellent, seasoned teachers continually strive to seek out ways to improve each and every year.

Having a good work ethic, punctuality, volunteerism, and participation in team and staff meetings are also characteristics that are noticed and will make a difference. It is critical to make a great impression with everyone in the school, including, but not limited to, custodians, secretaries, certified staff, and non-certified staff. Forming these relationships will only add to the student teaching experience and will give the student teacher more opportunities to add to a reference list.

Finally, don’t forget to have fun and take some risks while student teaching in your graduate program. This is the time to try new things and take a few chances.

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Now, you must transition from being a student teacher to being the teacher in the real world classroom. Let’s talk about some points to think about as you make this transition.

Know Who You Are

Take a good look in the mirror and try to get a good feel for the kind of teacher you expect yourself to be. Will your classroom be extremely structured with perfect measured rows and bulletin boards? Will your classroom management be more positive behavior-focused or punitive in nature? What are your favorite instructional strategies? Will it include purposeful talk between students, centers, flipped classroom, etc.?

You need to have an idea of your personality and what will likely work for you. It is hard for a nurturer not to smile until Thanksgiving. It is hard for someone who likes quiet in their classroom to allow a lot of group projects. Know who you are!

What Will My Classroom Look Like?

I know this sounds similar to the first point, but this gets down into the weeds of your classroom. In fact, it was during the last couple of years of my teaching career that some of this actually crossed my mind, not during my first year in the classroom. What are the details of how your class will operate?

When students enter your room, what are the exact procedures they will follow? Where will their backpacks go? Will they grab journals when they come, and after that, where will they go, what will they do, what will they do after that? When students ask for help, will they raise their hand, and when they raise their hand, are they to do that quietly or call your name at the same time?

When students get up to go to the bathroom, will they sign a sign-out sheet? Do they have to ask or will they just go when they need to? Will there be a limit on how many trips they can take in one week, six weeks, one semester, etc.?

I know some of the examples above may sound trivial, but these little details like where the pencil sharpener may be, how students transition from one segment to the other, how they enter, and how they clean-up, are potential pitfalls to how your class will operate and how you manage it.

Manage Your Time

You had to manage time as a student between completing college and (maybe) working at the same time or even during your student teaching experience. Or, in my case, playing college sports while working on a master’s degree. Either way, you had to prioritize your time to accomplish what you felt was the most important goal you were working on.

This will continue during this transition. Some of you are entering your first year of teaching and may have kids or may also be newly married or learning a new town, etc. Balance your time! Before school starts you may need a Saturday to get the room ready, or stay later an evening or two to make sure you are progressing enough that you can sleep well at night.

But, if each Saturday you are at school or if you are leaving school when it is dark the entire month of September, you will burn out, you will miss your family, and you will not be the best you can be for your students and colleagues. Set limits on your time at work and recognize the importance of self-care; do something you enjoy in your free time (you have to make sure you have free time!), exercise, and make sure you are getting some sleep. You may have to schedule free time and exercise or fun time into your day, but it is needed for success.

Become Your Best Teachers

It is a very true fact of life that who we learn from (by choice or by not) will dictate much of what we will do in the future. It is not a coincidence that good quarterbacks are with good coaches, and some good quarterbacks fail because they do not end up with good coaches.

The same is true in education; the teachers and colleagues we learn from (good and bad) will make a difference in how we treat and teach our students. Thus, really think about your best teachers and what they did that made them so great and find the parts of their repertoire that you, as a new teacher, can add yours that fits with your strengths and personality.

Maybe it was the way your high school English teacher pushed you without you recognizing or the way your elementary teacher made science fun when you had no interest whatsoever. And even greater than that, how did that one teacher make you feel about yourself when you felt like the world was caving in on you? Become your best teachers!

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Build a Collegial Relationship

Teacher candidates are often young, and student teaching may be their first foray into a professional work place. By establishing some norms and professional expectations at the onset, a student teacher can begin to grow trust and confidence with their mentor teacher. Establish the best forms of (email, text, phone, in-person, etc.) and appropriate times for communication outside of the work day.

For instance, a cooperating teacher might not appreciate a 2 am text to ask them to check over a lesson plan for the next day, even from a student teacher they like very much. The student teacher should ask the mentor teacher what their expectations are in terms of deadlines and lesson planning. Are they the kind of teacher that finishes plans the week before or the night before? Do they expect to review the student teacher’s plans before each class? Should a schedule be established to have these discussions or can they do this as an on-going conversation? Part of learning to be a teacher is learning to work on a team, and the student teaching experience is the first opportunity to collaborate with another professional educator.

Utilize Your Mentor

Student teachers have access to an incredible resource: an experienced teacher who is invested in their success and willing to give up some of their time and classroom autonomy to give the student teacher the opportunity to flourish. Taking advantage of that willingness to share is the key to a successful student teaching experience. Student teachers must:

• Regularly ask for feedback about everything. Were the questions I asked appropriate? Did I give enough wait time? Did I come across all right in that PLC meeting? Should I have looked at the data differently?
• Be prepared to accept the feedback even if initially you may disagree with it.
• Watch closely the ways the mentor teacher establishes expectations in the classroom. Do they model for children what is expected? Do they use multiple modes of communication? Do they employ non-verbal communication techniques? Anchor charts? How do they get kids to understand what they expect and how to do it?
• Ask questions about why and how they do things that seem to come naturally. Some really are innate, but most are skills or dispositions that the teacher has honed as part of their craft.
• When stuck or unsure of what to do, ask for help and be ready to receive it.

Observe as Many Teachers as You Can

In addition to frequently observing one’s mentor teacher, a student teacher can create a high-quality experience by arranging to observe multiple teachers in the school. Work with the administration to establish a schedule or at least gain permission to go into different classrooms to observe as many different levels, grades, subject areas, and teacher personalities as possible. Watching closely the decision-making processes of all the educators one encounters in a school during student teaching can allow exposure to multiple styles and perspectives.

Suspend Certainty

An enthusiasm for fresh ideas and evolution is invigorating, and it is often what mentor teachers love about their student teachers. However, it can also instill a false sense of superiority in student teachers and leave them with the impression that experienced teachers may be “out of touch.” Student teachers should be encouraged to listen, observe, and ascertain the reasoning behind decisions before passing judgement on the teachers with whom they work. If one can suspend certainty about the way things “should be”, sometimes a better sense of the way things actually are and the most productive ways to respond to the current status quo will emerge.

Embrace a Growth Mindset

Be comfortable with failure. Embrace it. Striving for perfection, while admirable, can be a stumbling block during the student teaching experience. As a teacher, one will experience failure regularly: that of a student, a lesson, maybe even a system. A student teacher who fails and learns from it has gained far more than one who has simply continued to maintain a level of equilibrium by checking off requirements. Also the act of overcoming a failure by reflecting and refining ones practice is a critical element to becoming fully functioning professional educator. We act, assess, analyze, reflect, and refine. That’s who we are.

Exercise Classroom Management

Classroom management is probably the area most often cited by cooperating teachers, principals, and university supervisors as an area for potential growth in student teachers. One hopes that their students will all be compliant and that their lessons will flow seamlessly from each nugget of wisdom imparted to the next. However, hope is not a strategy.

A student teacher must create a classroom management plan through which they regularly employ specific strategies to build positive relationships with and among students, set non-instructional routines, and reinforce expectations for student conduct. Student teachers often doubt their legitimacy as classroom managers. If they can embrace this role with confidence, and assert themselves as the leader of the classroom, though, they could begin their career at a major advantage and leave room to focus on the essential function of teaching: facilitating student learning.

A student teacher who builds a strong, trusting relationship and maintains an open-minded approach will leave their apprenticeship with the knowledge and experience necessary to lead a classroom.

*Updated November, 2020

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