Student Teaching Success Guide

Written by Sneha Anantha

Student Teaching Success Guide

The best part of a teacher's career is efficiently molding and enriching the knowledge of students. These are some of the best ways to find success in the classroom and learn to help students achieve their potential while student teaching.

Student teaching is the last part of training to become a teacher, providing the opportunity to enter a real classroom for the first time as a teacher. Student teachers need to concentrate on both going through their curriculum and learning to teach. This should be a positive learning experience as well as an opportunity to hone teaching skills.

Teaching involves more than being very knowledgeable in academic material. It also boils down to having the right social skills, the right approach, and being able to form a relationship with students. This requires particular qualities, such as empathy and self-control. To be successful as a teacher, it is important to continuously develop not only content knowledge but also one's personality and social approach.

Earning a teacher credential takes several steps.

The first step is to earn a bachelor's degree, usually in an educational field. Prospective teachers may also be required to have a second major in a subject field, such as math, English, history, etc.

Teacher education programs include a practical teaching stage. States also require prospective teachers to pass certification exams to earn a teaching license. Some of these tests vary by state. They are:

• The Praxis Series of Exams, used in multiple states.
• The CSET/CBEST tests, used in California.
• The TExES test, used in Texas.
• The NES Test, used in Arizona, California, Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington.

Who is the Cooperative Teacher

The cooperative teacher is the instructor who oversees a student teacher. They should be a model and mentor. Because they've been teachers for at least two years, they can help student teachers develop their classroom techniques, provide feedback, answer questions, and lead new teachers through the process of becoming successful educators.

Ideally, meet with the cooperative teacher before beginning the student teaching program. Doing so will enable both the experienced teacher and the student teacher to set expectations, understand processes, and start a relationship that will benefit both of them.

Set Expectations

This is a crucial step to help avoid friction and stress between the cooperative teacher and student teacher. Setting expectations will also provide a clear understanding of how to work together.

Expectations should already be in place by the time you enter the classroom to teach. This should be done to avoid discussing expectations during the school day when the focus should be on the students in the classroom.

The student teacher should not be afraid to discuss their own expectations. It is important that both parties understand how responsibilities for the class will be divided. Setting expectations at the beginning reduces the chances of misunderstandings.

Also, discuss your college's requirements for the student teaching program and make the cooperative teacher aware of them. This helps to ensure that all the requirements are met in a timely fashion.

Learning Processes and Procedures

Discuss the procedures and processes that the cooperative teacher uses in the classroom. This way, when school starts, the cooperative teacher and student teacher will set the same expectations for the students.

Make sure to ask for clarification about the processes that the cooperative teacher has in place. Some things to ask about include:

• Duties, day-to-day routines, and schedules.
• Substitute teacher policies and what happens in the case of a teacher absence.
• The phone number and email addresses of the cooperative teacher and other school team members.
• Written and verbal feedback and how it is delivered.
• School district and school policies.
• Where the main entrance to the school is and where there is place to store items.

Standards and Lesson Plans

Without standards and lesson plans, it is impossible to plan the school year. As a student teacher, it is important to understand the objectives of lesson plans and how they are based on learning standards.

A lesson plan is made up of the following:

• Assessment
• Background information
• Closure
• Instruction
• Materials
• Objective
• Practice

Always make sure to identify these seven components every time you look at lesson plans. If they are not all there or if they are unclear, ask the cooperative teacher for help.

Each lesson plan should be easily comparable to an educational standard. Performing this comparison helps teachers evaluate lesson plans to see if additional development is needed.

Discuss with the cooperative teacher how much lesson planning the student teacher should be responsible for.

• Is the student teacher expected to teach entire lessons?
• Will the cooperative teacher review lesson plans if they have been created without supervision?
• When should lesson plans be turned in to the cooperative teacher?

Testing and Grading

Teaching cannot exist without testing and grading. This is how the ability of students to understand materials and possible knowledge gaps are assessed by teachers. School districts usually decide how students should be graded. Two of the most common types of grading are standard-based grading and mastery-based grading. Standard-based grading is the traditional A to F grading system where one grade is given for a class. Mastery-based grading uses a number system from 1 to 4, with 4 indicating full mastery of a given skill set. Courses are broken down into skill components with a number grade given for each skill.

The cooperative teacher should be an expert in different types of testing and grading. Ask them about which methods they use and how students should be evaluated.

Another question to ask refers to testing modes. Schools may use traditional, paper-based testing during classes or may utilize computer-based assessments. Standardized tests are often taken online by students. It is important to be comfortable with various forms of testing.

Student Teaching Tips

With the preliminary meetings completed, it is time to get ready to be successful in the classroom. Here are some student teaching tips to help this be a positive learning experience for all involved.

Organization

Being organized is key to being a successful teacher. Start the day with a clear understanding of what should be accomplished. As the semester goes on, a student teacher's responsibilities tend to increase. The cooperative teacher may have a student teacher begin the term by grading assessments and working on lesson plans. A few weeks later, one might expect to teach several classes.

To help with organization, use a calendar that can be shared between both teachers.

Always take a look at the class list and become familiar with the students' names and any particular seating arrangements that are needed in the classroom, such as those needed for student accommodations.

Staying organized also means not scrambling to remember all the login information for the online sites needed as part of the educational process. Make a list of login credentials and keep it handy.

The School Manual

The school manual should be read before your first class. It usually provides information such as what can be expected by students, meals, schedules, and medical services.

The manual can also give you important information about how certain behaviors are dealt with by the school and what is expected of you. Depending on the school, it may also provide contact information for key personnel.

The Team

A student teacher's primary contact in the school is the cooperative teacher, but it is helpful to familiarize oneself with the full school team, especially those individuals the student teacher will be working with on a regular basis. For example, try to make the acquaintance of the following staff and team members:

• The school librarian, who can help you find materials for your classes.
• The vice-principal, who is often responsible for discipline.
• The nurse, who can help with student medical issues.
• The school counselor, who can help students with behavioral or emotional challenges.

Tips for Teaching at Each Level

Teaching successfully requires not only mastering content but also demonstrating social skills and motivating your students. Let's look at how to find success at any educational level.

Kindergarten

At this level, your focus should be on how well your students are developing. Ensure that content is appropriate for young kids and gives them enough challenges that they feel rewarded when they get praise for a good job.

Even though these students are young, they may have already developed their learning mode. As such, you need to take this into account and adapt your teaching to meet their learning needs.

Elementary

These young students learn best with hands-on activities. Technological tools can be used to help grab and keep their attention. Take advantage of whatever technology is available in the school and engage the students with exercises, games, and information that is appropriate for their age. Should technology be limited in the school, focus on cooperative activities to direct the students' learning.

Middle School

The best way to deal with the learning needs of middle school students is to take advantage of their natural interest in collaboration and relationships. Use their interest in forming closer relationships with each other and the teacher to engage them in learning.

Putting students in groups can help them work together better. Try including a student who is struggling with a concept in a group that has understood it well. Don't avoid putting friends in one group. Instead of disrupting the classroom, they may actually help each other stay immersed in what is being taught.

High School

This is when organizational skills are of the utmost importance. High school students are also getting ready for higher education or life in the workforce, which means that they'll be the most challenged they've ever been while in school.

Take advantage of the cooperative teacher's experience with organization and ask them questions about what they do to remain organized while teaching high school.

While teaching students at this level, sometimes they may ask questions the teacher doesn't know the answer to. While being an expert in the subject matter being taught is part of being successful, admitting that nobody knows everything, including teachers, is an important life lesson. Volunteer to find the answer and get back to the student at a later time.

Student Teaching Experiences

Finally, let's take a look at the type of experiences one might expect and how to deal with them and remain a successful student teacher. Not all these experiences are going to be pleasant, but it is possible to successfully push through them and learn from each experience.

Covering It All

One thing that can be tempting to new teachers, including student teachers, is to make everything they teach easy to assess and test. This is not a good practice because students can become easily overwhelmed by the level of detail and miss themes and arguments. Moreover, students don't get to enjoy what they are learning and because of that, they fail to apply the concept in real life.

What you should do instead of covering it all is to figure out the central part of what you're teaching and then use your lessons to ask important questions that will naturally lead your students to that central part. This way, students won't end up hating reading books, for example.

Learning gradually also applies to your approach to the classroom. Don't try to take it all in a big bite. Instead, ease yourself into the role and understand that you're going to be learning new things every day.

Developing Relationships

We've already mentioned the importance of forging a strong relationship with the cooperative teacher. But why stop at that? There are many other professionals whose advice and resources are helpful when becoming a successful student teacher.

For example, depend on instructional coaches to help master content and suggest better ways to cover the curriculum. Invite the instructional coach into the classroom and take their advice about ways to improve. In the end, this can only lead to improvement and a more successful experience!

Letting Students Show You the Way

Regardless of which level you teach, listen to your students. While high school students are more than capable of running discussions and independently learning content, lower-level students are also a valuable resource for student teachers to learn what and how to teach.

Moreover, scale expectations to the fact that students will need to practice their new concepts and skills. Self-directed learning takes time to be done correctly. Students will get to enjoy the new approaches better when they thoroughly practice them and can follow the logic behind them.

Whichever strategy you choose, it is possible to find ample content online as to how to better practice it before teaching it to the students.

Incorporating Play

Students learn best when play is incorporated into their classes. This does not have to be running around for a game of Tag, although it can be if it is a kindergarten class. Many games can be incorporated into the class itself.

For instance, students can hold a card that spells a word relevant to the concepts being taught without looking at it and then have other students give them clues to guess what the word is. Conversely, reinforce this dynamic feature of teaching by having students use images to illustrate concepts and then guess them.

Playing videos that are relevant to the lesson is another easy way of incorporating the dynamic aspect of play. Props can be used to tell a story that may be too abstract for the students to understand by simply reading it.

When incorporating play, find a rhythm so that it doesn't simply engage students for a short period of time only to have them disengaged when you return to more formal teaching. Chunk teaching in such a manner that these games fit in seamlessly and encourage students to participate not just in the games themselves but also in the teaching in general.

Avoiding Overworking

This is a tricky one because student teachers want to be on their top game. However, burnout and becoming overwhelmed by too much information will run counter to the objective of being a successful student teacher.

So, what to do? Instead of reading as much as possible on each topic to be covered, restrict sources to the experts in that area. Resist the urge to look at more than ten sources. This will help reduce the temptation to conduct endless research, leading to sleepless nights and contributing to burnout.

Staying Healthy

Many student teachers can spend so much time studying and working that they forget how important staying healthy is until they get sick and are unable to perform their necessary duties.

Teaching in a classroom means being exposed to many germs. It's vital to take care of both mind and body to stay as healthy as possible.

• Eat a Well-Balanced Diet: Aim to eat a variety of nutritious foods. Make sure to have a substantial breakfast in the morning to provide energy for the school day. Bring a healthy snack and lunch to school. Items such as cut-up fruits and vegetables are easy to prepare and pack.
• Exercise Regularly: Bodies need daily exercise to perform well. While workouts at the gym can be great, a daily walk or swim can go a long way to enhancing mental and physical health.
• Practice Mindfulness: Brains need time to rest and reflect. Using breathing exercises or meditative practices can help calm anxiety and manage stress.
• Practice Good Hygiene: Be sure to wash hands regularly and/or use hand sanitizer. Clean frequently used surfaces in the classroom. Consider getting a flu shot and other recommended vaccinations to help prevent serious illness.

The Praxis Test

In order to enroll in a teacher preparation course and be successful as a student teacher, many states require prospective teachers to take the Praxis Core test and Praxis II exams. The Praxis exams are a collection of individual tests that evaluate content knowledge as well as the skills needed in the classroom. After taking this test and completing student teaching, it is possible to apply for certification. Each of the forty states that use this test has different requirements for it. When you register, make sure all requirements have been met. The test includes three areas and is administered by the Educational Testing Service. The three sections are:

• Praxis Core Writing
• Praxis Core Reading
• Praxis Core Math

It is hoped that the tips for success provided in this guide are helpful to student teachers as they begin their careers as educators. Good luck!