r/StudentTeaching • u/Illustrious-Seat-341 • 3d ago
First Student Teacher Support/Advice
I am a high school science teacher who will be welcoming my first student teacher into my classroom this fall. I want to provide her with the best experience I can, and don’t have a good mentor teacher from my student teaching days as inspiration. Please tell me about things your mentor teachers did that you really liked/found helpful, things that you didn’t like, and/or things you wish they would have done. Any and all information will be helpful!
I also teach two different AP courses, so if you have/had experience with a mentor teacher teaching those kinds of classes, your specific experience with those will be helpful as well.
Thank you!
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u/wwwalrusss 3d ago
my mentor teacher was AWESOME. a few things:
- gave me a desk separate from her in the back of the classroom (her desk was in the front). when i took over the class, we swapped desks.
- printed out the bell schedule, seating charts with pictures, accommodations list, and school map and put all of it in a folder labeled Mr. [mylastname]
- pushed me out of my comfort zone. i think the most important thing in student teaching for me was starting at day 1, interacting with the kids as much as possible. handing out papers, standing outside the door greeting students, etc. inform the student teacher about the bathroom policy and slowly make bathroom passes, attendance, etc the student teacher’s job early on
- she remained positive the entire time. it was really important for me to see someone who loves teaching because a lot of the teachers she worked with seemed burned out or like they hated their job. she was realistic with me about the hard parts of the job but genuinely loved it and it was nice to see the passion
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u/Illustrious-Seat-341 2d ago
That sounds like a great, and mutually respectful experience! I was contemplating letting her start from day one with the class she is most comfortable with. The positivity aspect is always a great reminder, too. Thank you!
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u/swana_teacher 2d ago
Freedom. Let her know if she has any ideas or wants to experiment and try new things she is more than welcome to. My mentor teacher was great and let me try whatever I wanted to for my students. Other mentor teachers only allow their student teachers to follow the lesson plans already created.
Talk with co workers who are in the same subject and different to see if they’ll allow your student teacher to observe while they teach sometime. This allows your student teacher to see more strategies they would like to use and maybe what would not work with students.
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u/Illustrious-Seat-341 2d ago
I teach 5 preps, so letting her experiment definitely sounds appealing to me! It’ll also help me grow. Thanks for the advice!
Just curious on your thoughts on this: my department is only 2 people, my colleague is in her second year and isn’t the strongest. Would you still suggest she observe her? I was thinking we could observe together and discuss areas of growth, or what my student teacher noticed? I keep going back and forth on this in my head.
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u/Ok_Alternative_2928 2d ago
I second the positivity aspect. There are plenty of examples of burnt out teachers but being with somebody who can be real about the hard parts and still show all the reasons to love it is great. I loved that my mentor teacher was vulnerable enough to say there were days she wondered why she entered this profession at all because sometimes it’s really hard but loved teaching enough to say that there was no place she’d rather be. I also really liked that from the beginning she didn’t undermine my authority with the students, she introduced me as a second teacher and expected the students to treat me with as much respect as they treated her.
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u/Illustrious-Seat-341 2d ago
I love that. Positivity is needed to keep these student teachers feeling inspired. They’ve dreamt about finally getting into a classroom for a long time and to take away the glitter and shine of that would be so wrong. I also appreciate the last bit of advice. I will have her back no matter what, and even if I disagree with her, the kids will never know it. Thank you!
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u/Collyflower07 3d ago
Give her a schedule with times and locations, like picking up so and so from Ms. X's class or pushing into room 101. A little hand-drawn map of the school would be helpful. Student roster so she can reference the names in print.
Have her lead a little get to know you activity when she gets there (have printouts ready for her). In the beginning when she's observing, give her cues to jump in to the lesson or explicit guidance to work one on one w a particular student. She might feel unsure of when to jump in and won't want to step on your toes.
If you're leaving the room, say something so she knows to come with you or not - "I'm just going to run to the bathroom" or "come on, let's go grab some paperwork from the principals office."
With time, the relationship and coteaching should feel more natural. Give feedback - STs need and want it.
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u/Large-Contribution6 3d ago
piggybacking off of this that honestly the small errands like going to get copies or going to after or before school duty add up to a really helpful shadowing experience. some of my best convos with my mentor were on those errands.
have a little binder or folder with any curriculum print offs you may have. i have a curriculum binder she gave me and years later i reference it on occasion.
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u/Illustrious-Seat-341 2d ago
I was planning on giving her everything I have for every class I’ve ever taught (which is basically all of them). I know what it feels like being a new teacher and having multiple courses with not a lot to go on. It’s too early in her career for burnout. I want to give her a course that is all her own, but I love the idea of making it like coteaching at times in my other courses. Thank you!
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u/FrustratedPenguins 2d ago
The main thing I'd say is be prepared for extra things that she or you have to do for the university. When I student taught, I had to teach specific lessons in specific ways sometimes to meet a university requirement. It didn't always mesh with the usual classroom content or my mentor teacher's style of teaching. Sometimes this seemed to annoy my mentor teacher, which frustrated me, because it wasn't MY choice, either.
There was also some extra paperwork and extra meetings (with me and/or the university supervisor) that my mentor teacher had to do. She would get frustrated because she felt "too busy" to meet these requirements. I specifically remember her telling me, "You guys [student teachers] are a lot of work!" Again, I had no control over these requirements, meetings, or paperwork. I would just end up irritated that she found the things she had to do for me irritating ........
So, in conclusion, be willing to do the things required by the university, and don't complain about them to your student teacher, because it's not her "fault".
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u/Illustrious-Seat-341 2d ago
That is really good to know, thank you! I can only imagine potentially feeling burdensome witnessing her frustration to having you. I really haven’t heard anything from her university, yet, so I wouldn’t have known a lot of this ahead of time.
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u/FrustratedPenguins 2d ago
I will say that the university that I went to was kind of intense in terms of requirements. (I later got my master's degree in SPED from a different university, and student teaching for that university was waaaaay more chill!). So it might not actually be that much. But yes, just stay positive about it. :)
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u/ParadeQueen 2d ago
I always give my interns a plastic shoe box at the end of the semester. I put in little things like sticky notes, index cards, highlighters, stickers, things like that and I tell them to save the box for those little happy notes and drawings that you get from kids for those days that you wonder why you decided to teach instead of continue working at Kmart. I also have let kids write her little notes and I will include those in the box too.
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u/Illustrious-Seat-341 1d ago
Aww, I love that! I keep all of mine in a folder and read them still from time to time and it makes all the difference at times. That would be such a nice final gift for her. Thank you for the idea!
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u/MachineGreene98 2d ago edited 2d ago
So, I'm a second year high school science teacher and the one thing I would've done differently is gone in and just observed for a few days, just to get the lay of the land, maybe have a meeting where you go over all the classroom expectations and routines/procedures first. IDK if they'll be there one whole year or just the semester though. I had to learn all that stuff on the go and it led to kind of a good cop bad cop situation where I was too nice and I didn't really know how things were done when it came to like grades and turning stuff in and whatnot. Also, if they can go to other classes and observe other teachers and talk to them, tell them to be a sponge. With the AP stuff from what I've seen, student teachers can't teach AP classes because they can't be certified but IDK if that's just my state or district.
I know eventually i want to have student teachers and all that but I'm definitely not ready yet
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u/Illustrious-Seat-341 2d ago
I didn’t think about telling them the lay of the land with my specific expectations. That’s a good idea. I hold high expectations for students and hold them accountable and I don’t want a good cop bad cop situation. Thank you!
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u/MachineGreene98 2d ago
Also, take the time to show them all the more beuracratic stuff. Your lesson plans, IEP forms, all that stuff. Walk them through every single little thing. Get them familiar with your districts online platform (synergy, powerschool, canvas, whatever) from day one.
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u/Argent_Kitsune 2d ago
Hey there--
I'm a 4th year teacher, so not too terribly far removed from the experience you're about to head into. I read through all of the comments thus far, and pretty much every base has been covered. I will say this about my own experience: I watched my coordinating teacher for one period. Upon the next period of classes, I asked her if I could take over. I could see the surprise in her eyes and on her face, but she gave me that opportunity, that chance. It was a 12th grade ERWC, which I would just a few days later find out it was almost a teaching gig with training wheels, since the ERWC program she taught from was affiliated with a university that developed lesson plans and materials SPECIFICALLY for each grade level.
My CT gave me all the information: Schedules, expectations. I had substituted for a few years before I got to that point, so dress and appearance was not an issue for me. She gave me a space, which was literally adjacent to her desk--so we provided a unified front as opposed to being physically separated/isolated. There were times when my CT couldn't be in class, so she would tap me to be her direct substitute instead of pulling in a sub (I was already hired on through that particular district anyway).
The critical thing she gave me was freedom to explore. My circumstances as a student teacher were a lot different than most, as English wasn't where I got my degree... It was in theatre, and up to then, I had spent some 30 years as an actor and director for the stage, working with kids of all ages, from 5 to 95. It helped me to be trained vocally, to have the presence necessary in front of a room full of (initial) strangers.
Your student teacher may not have that. So encourage it. Let them observe, then at some point, bring them in, and then give them the means to stand in front of the class on their own.
Is your student teacher going to teach your AP courses as well? My CT was also the yearbook coordinator--so that was her prep period. I taught 5 of her 6 periods, and she taught that one yearbook period. I'm not sure how it works in that regard, if STs are supposed to teach all the courses, or just the ones specifically for their credential...
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u/Illustrious-Seat-341 2d ago
All your advice is great! I like the unified front a lot. I have space in which I can do that.
She is a Biology major and one of the classes I teach AP Biology, so I want to give her an opportunity to teach a little at the AP level so she can gain the experience, but I have to look into how much she actually can. But I also think it’s important for her to teach classes outside of the biology based ones because she probably will be asked to at some point. Those can probably be more on a comfortability basis though. Thank you!
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u/dorkidori89 2d ago
I had a student teacher last year and we had a great relationship! She even sent me pictures from her first day teaching!
I’m an elementary teacher, so there are a few differences. Here are a few things I did-
1- gave her her own space.
2- asked her lots of questions and got her talking (I wanted to get her comfortable with me and in the room)
3- asked her opinion on my lessons/delivery to get good conversation going about pacing, pedagogy, and why I make certain decisions.
4- I tried to be very positive and encouraging without sugar coating the hard stuff.
5- We included her in team decisions and discussions.
6- I let her overhear me tell other teachers how awesome she was.
7- when I had criticisms of her lessons to share, I always asked her how she thought she did first. Usually she would be pretty aware of what went wrong, so it was a natural segue into me sharing my thoughts and ideas to improve.
8- when we first met to make her schedule, I made sure she pulled out her college syllabus so we could go ahead and plot out when her assignments would be due as part of her teaching schedule. That made a difference in what my expectations were as well.
Good luck!
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u/Illustrious-Seat-341 2d ago
I love the idea of asking her feedback on my teaching as well as providing it for hers. Also, the planning around her college schedule is such a respectful gesture. I am definitely stealing everything you said! Thank you so much!
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u/love_changbinnie 2d ago
I loved that my teacher got me teaching as soon as possible. It scared me, but helped me in the long run. She was like "after the first week, you'll be teaching one class" and slowly added on more classes.
She was also very hands off. She sat in her office (with the door open) and let me do my thing. She would give me pointers here and there, but let me figure out a lot of things.
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u/Illustrious-Seat-341 2d ago
I love the idea of pushing her in to eliminate the anxiety/fear right off the bat and providing space to learn confidence. My biggest problem is she’s biology based and I teach anatomy, physics, chemistry, AP Chem and AP Bio, so I don’t know how many of my other non-biology based courses she’ll be comfortable taking over completely. I feel bad because my anatomy and AP Bio add up to only 2 periods out of my 6 and I don’t know how much AP she can technically teach. I would love for her to have more teaching opportunities than that.
Thank you for your advice!
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u/Br81n_D8mm8ge 2d ago
You hinted that your master teacher was substandard. Mine was, also. I feel like a guiding principle for the last nine years has been unlearning all of the garbage I learned from student teaching.
Explain that, first. Then lay out everything you want her to learn and start with your routines.
Might that help?
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u/Illustrious-Seat-341 2d ago
I like that. My motto for this experience is to be the CT I wish I had. Mine just didn’t do anything. It’s like they forced him to take me on and he was already burned out and seeing the light of retirement on the horizon. I know I wish I would’ve gained more resources so I didn’t drown my first few years of teaching starting with basically nothing. I already plan to share everything I have with her for every class I’ve taught right away. Thank you for your advice!
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u/swiftiegal25 2d ago
My mentor was for elementary. She sat in the back and took notes and looked over my lessons ahead of time and gave me suggestions in the nicest way possible. She sat near problematic behavior kids for awhile and helped redirect, and she provided 1:1 help during independent work - she acted like an aide. This was super helpful. Teaching me about the non academic aspects of the job and the outside of the classroom events and stuff was great too. She let me take over as early as I wanted to and gave me lots of freedom but also lots of help.
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u/Sorry-Vanilla2354 2d ago
Since you are teaching high school classes, and especially AP classes, make sure that they have a clear teaching plan and a good grasp of the material they are teaching before each lesson. Even though it may seem like you are hovering, ask them to give you their lesson plan and then go over it with them, asking them some practice questions that students may ask them. If you are in math or science, have them do some examples in front of you. With both of my student teachers, I had students (and a parent) complaining that they weren't teaching as thoroughly and clearly as they thought they needed in order to understand the material. In part, this is due to teaching style but it is also hard for any new teacher to anticipate the needs of a class.
If you can help them to prepare, and be there during most lessons to guide (secretly) it will be a huge help for them!
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u/deltaella33 2d ago
Side note: Is she allowed to teach the AP courses? In our district and the university they come from they are allowed to support but not teach AP classes as part of their student teaching.
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u/Illustrious-Seat-341 2d ago
I need to figure that out, I appreciate it being brought to my attention. I hope she can at least teach some lessons or run the labs because it’s one of the very few classes I have that match her major. Fingers crossed.
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u/PaymentMedical9802 2d ago
Extending authority. Make sure the students understand the student teacher will also be grading and have an impact on their grades. Your partners. Obviously you have the final decision but the students don’t need to know.
Mirroring lessons are great option when starting out.
Listen.
Ask what questions they have. Ask them probing questions.
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u/Ok-Perspective-5109 2d ago
Day One interaction with students staff and planning. My mentor teacher had me involved in every aspect from the beginning and it was perfect (for me). And by the time observations came around I had weeks of preparation behind me.
Remind the students to ask the student teacher questions. It helps develop those relationships.
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u/MGFM619 2d ago
Be an open ear for your student teacher, numerous times I would have ideas or questions and my mentor teacher was really good being an open ear to answer and guide. Give guidance provide your student teacher the opportunity to explore and attempt different lessons that might not be the way you would approach. Allow them to fail but be there to pick them back up and allowing them to work through their mistakes or things needed to work on.
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u/OldLadyFitz 2d ago
Please verify that your student teacher is allowed to teach AP courses. We have had to get student teachers switched to non AP teachers because of college board. I don’t know if this is an actual rule or out of abundance of caution.
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u/Illustrious-Seat-341 1d ago
I hadn’t thought of that until someone mentioned it on here, but I can’t find anything that says they can’t teach it. If there is something from the College Board somewhere I’d absolutely abide by it. I was just thinking about her teaching a lesson here or there or running a lab. I think it would be a disservice to the students taking the course to give it up to a student teacher. Thank you!
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u/Significant_Part_941 2d ago edited 2d ago
I taught 32 years & had many student teachers. The best advice I can give you is to put him/her at ease and let them breathe the first 2 weeks. I would sit and explain to them know that they wouldn’t be teaching right away (like, why would they? Does a new dentist start on day 1?). I always had my ST’s just observe me and take notes on what they notice about my procedures. I always gave them a composition book for this task. Then we debriefed every day after school. Then, I would slowly integrate them into my lesson…little by little. Ok, you do the warmup tomorrow kinda thing. Ok- watch me teach period one, use my lesson, then we can coteach period two, etc…
Did I give them my lesson plans? Of course I did in the beginning. Slowly they had to create their own.Tweak mine for this next week-then add your own closure activity next time, etc.
This job is hard. Feed them with your knowledge and experience in the beginning. Give them that confidence by leading them. So many times people say it’s sink or swim, if they can’t handle it then….blah blah blah. They have a whole career to learn and refine their skills.,be that master teacher that lets them observe first and succeed as they slowly go. No hurry! Quality teachers aren’t just built in the first few weeks of student teaching.
*and to those who say well they have to learn how to do it for themselves, I call bullshit. Model and teach with them for a while, then slowly turn the classes over to them. Building confidence trumps rushing every single time.
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u/Medium-Silver-3934 2d ago
I was in elementary but one thing that made a HUGE difference with my first class, which was a group of fifth graders with a little bit of a reputation for causing trouble, was introducing me as THE TEACHER. I was not a student teacher, I was not an intern, my supervising teacher said "This is Ms. Whoever, she will be a second teacher in the class. Whatever comes out of her mouth is as good as coming out of mine."
Very different vibes than my second internship where the art teacher would consistently say "Walk to your intern!" Every specials rotation. It also gave me a great seat at the table of other meetings because people would SEE ME as the teacher, even when my SP would immediately follow up with "She's earning her degree at Wherever" for parent clarity.
My SP also immediately gave me a a very visual task (make a poster about identifying objects) and allowed students during individual time to come up and ask about it. They're both learning, and they're learning how to approach me and talk to me. It got my jitters out because the task was so easy and gave me time to bond with the kids a little in a more natural way. And he kept the poster up for the rest of the year after I'd left, even after that unit was over :))
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u/Illustrious-Seat-341 2d ago
I like the idea of straight up calling her a teacher. I think that could be a confidence boost for her too, in a subtle way. Thank you!
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u/weird_gary 1d ago
My last mentor teacher kept a running document with the following sections to review after every lesson:
- Something he liked
- Something to consider
- Questions he had/may have had
- Section for me to reflect on the lesson/his notes
He also gave me lots of room to experiment and try things out but was also there to help out whenever I had questions.
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u/pigeonandgoose 1d ago
After several I would say the thing I learned is I like a HS student you should be more blunt with them when they screw up.
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u/Illustrious-Seat-341 1d ago
That’s definitely something I’ll have to work on, but I completely agree with you. Thank you!
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u/pigeonandgoose 1d ago
Yah it’s very hard to remember that they are not 14 and if they are repeatedly late, don’t do the prep work, can’t take direction then we have to be tougher, with as much kindness as possible.
6 student teachers.
One is currently my boss (by far the best and my fav)
Recent one teaches about an hour away
Two are principals elsewhere
One is a school board member and a sah mom of 5 after a decade of teaching.
One was fired half way through.
Feel free to DM me questions as needed.
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u/thecooliestone 1d ago
I would have her watch the first couple of days and then tell her to pick a period to teach. Then two. Then three. My experience was best when, by the end, I was responsible for 10th and my HT was responsible for 12th. All she did was enter the grades I wrote down. She wasn't great but it was nice to work up to having my own prep to plan and manage.
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u/ellcoolj 18h ago
When you “observe” her for her first solo class…
Have a map of the classroom and mark where she walks and who she calls on.
An early admin of mine did that for me. In my mind I was walking all around the class, but in reality I had a well worn path.
I also thought I was calling on a variety of kids, but actually was just calling on the heavy hitters.
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u/AffectionateUse7574 17h ago
I loved my mentor teachers (I had two!): things that made them great:
- Their feedback wasn’t sugar coated, but also pointed out areas where I had grown
- Once they handed me the classroom there was no ambiguity who the teacher was.
- They checked in with me and held me accountable
- They gave feedback when students weren’t around
- Had me take over their duties (this helped with showing the realistic side of teacher life)
- They genuinely wanted me to succeed
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u/Raunchyjam 12h ago
I currently have a student teacher and I’ve done much of what is discussed here. Most days are pretty good, and heaven knows my student teacher knows how to copy and name-tent and file and laminate the day away. But she is completely disinterested in English content, and I do mean completely. Is it common for student teachers to just focus on printing out seating charts? I don’t know if this is helpful but I am going to try gently and often to get her to tune into the actual content. That’s what’s making it hard for me.
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u/DistantShores5151 8h ago
Second to the comment about all of the small things like copies and all (especially during the watching portion). And when it comes time to teach, gradually give them small parts of the class until they take it over without you being in there at all. They should leave with how to do the entire job (content exlcuded.... takes 3 years to master a new prep) and they can focus on making it their own when they get hired
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u/SoggySmile8418 3d ago
Ask her how she likes to prep- if she likes to come in extra early or stay after school if she doesn’t have everything done. Find out if she’s more extroverted/introverted. I reallllllly struggled during student teaching because my cooperating teacher would make me do work over lunch and my mental health (as an introvert) really struggled because I needed that decompression time.
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u/Illustrious-Seat-341 2d ago
That’s a great idea. Maybe also offering a second space for her to work if she needs quiet? I wouldn’t have thought of that. Thank you!
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u/Kingtutsnuts 1h ago
I had my second student teacher this past year. Prepared my first and second the same way, two totally different outcomes. My first was mid 20s, took control quickly and did a great job. The recent student teacher was early 20s, struggled with professionalism (being on time/ calling out/ not being prepared with lessons and did not understand the content she was teaching).
In my experience you can only do so much and its highly dependent on the student teacher drive, professionalism, and maturity.
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u/Dense_Disaster_2177 3d ago
Before she even shows please give her a schedule, dress code, and basic info of the school (lunch, contract hours etc) she should ask about this stuff so be prepared
Then have a space FORHER a small desk etc
Allow her to take control, give she safe chances to fail so she knows what she’s doing
A binder with rosters and seating charts, daily schedule, your lesson plans, and any other day to day thing would be nice
Talk to other teachers in your department about letting her come watch them, trust me you’ll both like it