Cheesy Advice, Anyone?

In hand:  wouldn't you know it, late night Earl Grey tea again!




My first week in school has been "brilliant."  That's one of many words and phrases I've started to record so I remember all the fun things they say here.  Anyways, the kids are absolutely incredible and I am loving learning about each one!  I'm slowly but surely becoming used to waking up early and I think I might have my transportation finally worked out.. after much trial and error.  I will give a full update after my first week is complete!

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The last journal assignment for my student teaching supervisor was to write a letter of advice for new student teachers.  I really enjoyed this- it was nice to take what I've learned this past year and figure out how to use that to give helpful advice to others who are just starting out with their student teaching experience.  Obviously you must know from reading previous posts, or probably just from interacting with me in real life, that I'm a pretty cheesy and corny person.  I don't know about you, but I don't see anything wrong with some cheese and corn in our lives.  Both taste good to me. (There I go again.)


Anyways, I don't know if she will end up reading it to her incoming cohort (it ended up being quite long), but I decided to post it here so those who might be student teaching or teaching soon might find it helpful, or maybe you're just wondering what I learned from my student teaching experience.  Or you possibly are just procrastinating from doing something and are looking for anything to distract you at the moment.  Here you go!

Dear New Student Teachers,

Well, there’s no turning back now.  You’re about to embark on a semester full of lesson plans, reflections, observations, eligible content, late nights, and early mornings.  But don’t worry; I’ve put together some objectives that I am positive you will meet by the end of the year.

Objectives:

YWBAT (You will be able to):

-  Fly through lesson plans.

-  Teach and manage a whole classroom on your own.

-  Constructively work with other student teachers, teachers, and staff.

-  Successfully function as a REAL teacher.

-  Make a difference in your students’ lives.

(That last one is the most important!)

To help you prepare for the full semester ahead of you, I want to give you some bits of advice from my own experience with student teaching.

1.  Understand that this experience is meant to be stressful, overwhelming, and frustrating.  You are not an experienced teacher- you are new at this!  The path to becoming an experienced teacher is through the tough times.  You’ll learn from the mistakes you make, the nights you wait until the last minute, the lessons that don’t go as planned, and the way you handle your stress and frustration.

2.  Understand that each person’s experience is different.  I found myself comparing my experience to others’ experiences and finding so many differences to point out.  It’s important to realize that each experience contains a unique mixture of student teacher, mentor teacher, district, grade, classroom, and students.  Once you realize and accept the fact that each experience is going to differ from one another, you’ll be able to appreciate and enjoy YOUR placement for what it is.

3.  Save up!  Between gas, materials, and food, student teaching can put a small hole in your pocket.  You are also at school all day during the week, so there is not much time for a job outside of student teaching.  Just be aware of the costs and be smart with your money!

4.  Be creative, but also utilize your resources.  Now is the time to put your creativity to the test.  Try to make up your own activities, create your own materials, and develop your own assessments and rubrics.  You have many supportive people around to help you, critique you, and make suggestions.  However, don’t feel as if you always have to make up everything on your own- you also have access to resources through Pam, your mentor teacher, other staff at school, other student teachers, past professors, and the internet!  Use them!

5.  Manage your time wisely and stay organized.  Not only will you have things to do for your placement, but you will also have to make time to complete assignments for Pam.  Make sure that you’re giving yourself time to complete everything with a good effort.  And for Pam’s assignments, make sure you take the time to proofread so you don’t have to spend more time fixing your mistakes!  Even if you procrastinate (like I did), strive to truly do your best in your assignments.  They have a purpose and will not have the same effect if you just carelessly fly through them.  Use organizational tools to help you keep your life in order (files, post-its, folders, calendar, PAPERCLIPS!).

6.  Still try to do fun things.  Student teaching really is fun and you’ll love going into the classroom everyday (even after struggling to wake up in the morning).  Make sure you are setting aside time to have a life outside of student teaching- have dinner with friends, go to movies, play sports, go to concerts.  You are still technically a college student so don’t forget to let yourself be one once in a while!

7.  Get involved at your school (if possible) and GET TO KNOW YOUR STUDENTS.  If you get a chance, get involved at your school- volunteer to help with a fundraiser, go to Meet the Teacher Night, go the school movie night, start a homework club or sports club, go to the school’s basketball game.  These things will help you get to know more students and staff, help you gain a better understanding of the school and the community, and give you a sense of ownership of the school.  It is extremely important to get to know your students!  The small, daily personal conversations you have with them can make all the difference in the world.  If you truly know your students, you’ll be able to teach them better, they’ll gain more respect for you, and they’ll know how much care about them!  This experience is not only to help prepare you for teaching, but it is an experience that greatly affects your students as well.  Use it to make connections and help them succeed!  Seeing your positive impact on your students will feel better than any A ever did.

8.  Write it down.  Being a teacher is all about reflecting and sharing.  Keep a journal to write down your observations, things you learn, things that you want to use in your future classroom, things you DON’T want to do in your future classroom, reflections from lessons, funny things that happen, interesting things about your students, and your thoughts about your growth as a teacher.  Just in the act of doing this, you are growing and learning as a teacher.  Also, share!  Share with others about your experiences, conflicts, struggles, and successes.  Listen to others’ suggestions and feedback and let it help you grow!

And lastly,

9.  Drink coffee!  As an addict, I’m a bit partial to this one, but seriously.  Coffee to get you up and going, coffee to keep you up and going, coffee to relax, coffee to reward yourself.  Endless reasons to drink it!

You have learned so much from your classes, but trust me when I say that nothing will prepare you like being in that classroom.  You will love it and I am very excited for you!

Now get out there and have a wonderful experience!

Sincerely,

“If I Survived, You Can Too!”

Some more advice from some of my 6th graders!

"A teacher affects eternity. He can never tell where his influence stops." (Henry Adams)