A Preparation Guide for Student Teachers
Looking to student teach? Whether you're just starting your teaching degree program or you've lined up your first student teaching position, proper preparation will help you stand confidently in front of a classroom full of eager students.
This article presents four strategies to help prepare you for a successful student teaching experience. Read on to learn how implementing these student teaching tips can help advance your career and make a difference in students’ lives.
1. Plan for a Full-Time Job
Student teaching—also referred to as “demonstration teaching”—is a full-time job. Your placement may last 8 to 16 weeks, depending on your specific program requirements. This experience usually occurs during the normal school calendar.
To meet this time commitment, you'll likely need to make arrangements so that you can student teach full-time. This might mean quitting or taking a leave of absence from your job, arranging for day care, or planning for a commute each weekday.
Suspending or quitting your job can cause financial strain, so it's important to budget for this reality. Start saving money before you begin your student teaching placement. After starting, you might be able to take on a part-time job during nights or weekends if you need to make ends meet.
You may also consider delegating household chores or other family responsibilities to make time for student teaching. Discuss this with your family members or housemates and then devise a plan that works for everyone.
2. Research the Role
Ask your cooperating or mentor teacher, clinical supervisor, or fellow student teachers about what the experience is like and which lessons you might glean from it. Read about what student teaching entails and learn more about how to prepare for the day-to-day responsibilities.
If you don't have previous experience working with children, look into relevant positions like becoming a camp counselor or volunteer tutor. These roles can help prepare you for student teaching by exposing you to the dynamics between an educator and a student.
When you receive your student teaching placement, learn as much as you can about the school, its culture, and its community to understand how you'll fit in and to help inform your lesson plans. Don't be afraid to engage with your cooperating teacher or administrators and ask questions—they should be receptive to teachers-in-training who want to learn and become team players.
3. Consider Your Instructional Approach
What kind of teacher do you want to be? How will you help students engage in active and collaborative learning? How will you ensure that your students understand your lessons? Answering these types of questions can be helpful as you decide which methods of instruction will benefit both you and your students.
Day one of your student teaching may feel overwhelming. You might think you don't have time to develop new lesson plans for each day. The more you reflect on your teaching strategies and resources, the more prepared you'll be when the time comes to create lessons. Discuss what works and what doesn’t work with your mentor teacher—even first-year teachers can have valuable insights to share with you.
You could consider building a library of sample lessons or lesson templates ahead of time so that you have ready-made ideas to draw from. Doing so can reduce stress and allow you to focus on other duties like grading. The courses you take in your degree program will involve developing many strategies regarding lesson preparation to ensure that you are fully equipped for success.
4. Prepare Yourself for Classroom Challenges
Student teachers need to learn how to confront and overcome challenges. No matter how ready you feel, things won't always go as planned. When you begin your student teaching, you are bound to have days when you struggle. A lesson might go wrong. Teaching technology may not function as intended. Backup plans help, but the most important thing is to not let classroom setbacks bother you.
Know that it's OK to fail in front of your students—in fact, failure can be an opportunity to model how to respond when things don’t go the way you hope. If something happens and you make a mistake, fix it and then learn from it. Try to keep your composure. Find ways to relieve tension. Maintaining a sense of humor, for example, can serve you well.
And remember: the rewards make the challenges worthwhile. Many veteran teachers understand that overcoming challenges in the classroom leads to fulfillment.
If you aren’t already enrolled, WGU offers more than two dozen online, accredited bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education. These programs are designed with no set log-in times, allowing you to access coursework and study while working full-time.
Our competency-based education model lets you advance through courses as quickly as you master the material, so you can potentially graduate faster while saving money. Get started today!
