When assigned a student teacher to work with, there are some key tips that will help make the experience positive for you, the student teacher and the students. Remember to keep an open mind, communicate daily, and provide helpful feedback throughout the student-teaching experience.
Keeping an Open Mind
Student teachers have been versed in the most up to date research on education methods. They are young and fresh and full of excitement. Many of these student teachers have new and different ideas for how to effectively teach students, and the more open you are about their ideas, the better an experience both of you will have.
If your student teacher disagrees with how you teach something , or would like to implement something different in the classroom, be open to the idea. Work together to ensure that you both learn something in the process. Remember that with an open mind and a fresh student teacher, you may learn some great new tips for teaching your students.
Communicate Daily
Communication is not only key in a good marriage. It is key in any relationship, and student teacher/cooperating teacher is no exception. Make sure to schedule time each day to talk to your student teacher. Regardless of how good or bad you perceive the student teacher to be, your job is to make the experience as rich and helpful as possible. Discuss how lessons went, finding both things to praise and things to improve. Celebrate victories, and work through defeats together.
Ask questions, and try to get at the weaknesses that the student teacher has. Instead of taking on the role of weeding out those who should not become teachers, take it upon yourself to help that person become the best teacher possible. Share tips and strategies for classroom discipline and lesson planning. Provide copies of things you have filed away that may be helpful in the future. Plan together and discuss what objectives the students need to meet each day.
Provide Helpful Feedback
Be sure to provide helpful feedback. This includes specific, concrete suggestions for improvement as well as praise for a job well done. If a lesson was a flop, help the student teacher learn exactly what went wrong, and work together to think of ways to improve the lesson for next time. Every day in the classroom is a learning process for both teacher and student.
When working with a student teacher, keep a positive attitude and remember that you must work as a team to provide the best education possible for your students. You are being entrusted with a great responsibility - the job of helping to train the next generation of teachers. Tomorrow's teachers will change the lives of your grandchildren and great-grandchildren, so work to keep an open mind, communicate daily and provide the most helpful feedback possible.
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