So, this is a two-fold question for you guys. I start my student teaching in two days in a 7th grade American history class. Part of me is like, "Finally, the last hurdle!" The other part of me is terrified.

That said, I have questions for everyone.

1) For other, older people on the board that might have teaching experience... do you have any tips? Also, any parents of 13 year olds... tips?

2) For students, past and present... have you guys ever had a student teacher in your classroom before? What was the experience like for you? Do you have any advice for me?

I have had one before, not much to tell you really just be friendly and approachable to said students and make sure you teach them things in a way that is step by step and as easier for them as possible.

Elara : Hi, I'm going on my eighth year of teaching 3rd grade.  Do not be terrified--confidence is the key.  Kids smell terror a mile away and they will try to walk all over you!  Pay close attention to your cooperating teacher's teaching style and discipline system.  Try to follow the guidelines, yet do things your own way when you are leading the class.  Make sure you dress appropriately; my school district has a new dress code this year, so this is a new trend going around for teachers. Dress to impress the adults, not the students.  Later in the semester, ask the principal to observe you and critique your teaching.  Have him/her write you a letter of reference and ask to use him/her as a phone reference when you are interviewing.  I was very glad I did this, and employers look for administrative references when you are interviewing later on.  If you need any other advice or information feel free to PM me here 

First off, congrats. I know exactly how you feel. It is exciting, but even more terrifying. I can relate to this pretty well because I did my student teaching last fall, so I am not even a year out of it. Memories are still fresh.

I would say one of the most important things is to start preparing your lessons immediately. Completely go over the semester schedule with your cooperating teacher, and map out when you will begin taking over. That way you know exactly what you need to make lessons for. Then it is a simple process of adapting your lessons to the teaching method that the class is accustomed to. Sure, you need to have your own way of teaching. But that really won't be your luxury until your first real year on the job. The worst thing you can do is run your lessons in a very different way than the students are used to with their main teacher. It throws them off, and makes things harder for you. 

So make your lessons, and observe your cooperating teacher. I don't know how your school has you do student teaching, as they are all different. But mine required me to start co-teaching a couple weeks before I completely took over. That way the kids would start getting used to you as an instructor, and it also really helped me adapt my plans to my cooperating teacher's way of running the class. 

I student taught high school kids though. But my first job after I graduated this last December was middles school science, so I have had a semester experience with having my own middle school class. I found that even though they are at that horrible stage where they are starting to break out as individuals and there is a lot of drama with that, many are also still just young enough to legitimately see their teachers as authority figures and not just people you are supposed to listen to because it is school. Use that to your advantage and do not let them start seeing you as a college student. Be supportive, but you must be firm. One of the toughest things, I think, was learning to be the dominant one in the room. That is not exactly my personality in real life. I am actually still working on getting better at that. 

But this will go fast. At first, it might seem grueling when you are more observing. But when your time comes to completely take over, you will be surprised when you realize it is your last week of being the one in charge. Don't stress too much. Honestly, you probably will anyway. I did. But I survived it, and you will too.

Congratulations!
My teaching experience may be a little different from what you are going through, but here goes:

1) Try to have your lessons be detailed enough to get a large amount of information across, but simplified enough that someone without prior knowledge can grasp it well.

2) Be a little silly, if you're comfortable. If nothing else, kids and teens are more willing to listen to a teacher who isn't stuck to a completely immovable schedule.


3) Be yourself. It may sound somewhat strange, but teaching is a heck of a lot easier if you don't put up a giant farce. For me, I ramble about topics, but because that's who I am, I can work with it.

4) Think about the instructors in your life that influenced you, and take some advice from how they taught you. Most of my teaching is biased off the people who taught me each part of what I teach my students.

Now, as a student:

1) Don't lecture full-blast. In history especially, some students are very likely to get lost if all that happens is lecturing. 

2) Have some discussions involved to see what teaching methods worked the best, and cycle through different ones early on to figure out how you best teach as well as how the students themselves learn.

3) Don't freak out when students act critical or superior, chances are they want a free-ride, and to do that they may try to belittle you for being new as a teacher.

Most of this may help you only in later years. Focus on adding your own little flair to the style taught by the main teacher, and you should be set. Good luck!

Great advice so far, thank you guys so much!

I met my co-op yesterday and he seems pretty cool, only a little bit older than me as well so that makes it easier to talk to him. I did get some feedback from parents that I work with who said he is the "put on a video, doesn't really teach" kinda teacher but I didn't get that vibe from him at all.

I apparently will be having two sections of Honors History as well (yay!!) As far as I know, I only have a small group of students with IEPs (that is special ed stuff for non-teachers), so hopefully I don't have to worry too much about adjusting my lesson plans.

Heading out for the first day now. *Deep breath* This is it.

Well good luck with teaching your 7th grade class! I don't have any advice right now but still good luck on being a teacher!

... I don't have anything productive to say at the moment due to being so busy. However, I wanted to say... WOW!  I had NO idea there were so many teachers on vizzed!  How COOL is that?!?!  Elara, I had NO idea!  I had student teachers last year AND this year.  I'll try and give you some input, but I won't be able to for at least a week.  If you'd still like some by that point, can you let me know?  Or would it be too late and useless then?

Elara : Congrats on becoming a student teacher. Both of my parents have Chemistry degrees and teach High School Chemistry(Try doing Labs with 180 students). My mom has over 10 years under her belt whereas my Dad has been struggling to find a Teaching position after getting his credential back in 09(he did Summer School not long ago but that experience really turned him off on teaching after having over 200 students when he was a rookie teacher).

Anyways, some tips I can fire your way is to first plan out your semester(namely what you'd like to cover). Then take what you want to cover and allocate it by month and then by week and give yourself space between subjects in the event you need to spend more time or to test/quiz your students more so they learn what they NEED to learn from the subject in question. I find that "hands on" learning is the best so if your tech savvy, perhaps doing a lot of online stuff via laptops or tablets would help in reinforcing your lectures. Also, be sure to do tutoring but do it by appointment only and don't do it the final 2 weeks of the Semester since kids have a knack of waiting until the last minute to get help and they will overload you.

Another tip is to give them a "Final Exam" the first day of school that you won't hold against them since you plan to give them that same test at the end of the semester in order to gauge how much they learned and whether you need to tweak your teaching methods or schedule for next time. Oh and one more thing, you noted your getting Honors History for your student teaching. New teachers RARELY get the cream of the crop when starting out so keep that in mind.

Heh... I haven't had a day off since school started. I'm still working my normal job as well, so it's been kinda hectic.

I am 6 weeks in so far and doing well. My co-op is basically letting me run the class. I took over on day 4 or so and have been running every day since then. Since I didn't really have the summer to prep I've been kind of running week to week, but the students seem to be doing pretty good. About 6 students have called me their "favorite teacher in the whole school," and I think a few might even mean it. None of them are happy that I will be leaving them next month to finish up student teaching in Ireland. One even asked if he could stow away in my suitcase.

Singelli : I would LOVE to hear some tips! Please, I am ALL ears... well... eyes in this case.

I try to do hands on stuff when I can... it's early American history and the school has no budget so I can't get away with too much. It is truly sad because it's western Pennsylvania and there are historical sites everywhere! Seriously, the road I drive to school everyday is part of the Washington trail from when he went to talk to the French in the 1750s. Fort Pitt museum is an hour away! Yet no field trips. The internet is really restrictive, and the technology in my classroom is almost as old as my students (laptops from 2005, Epson projector that I remember seeing in my high school). The school itself is 97 years old and I am using the original blackboard. But that doesn't stop me from having just under 180 students.

I am a current student who has dealt with some student teachers back in high school. The student teachers from my high school were just too nice and other students didn't take them seriously. 

You have to find a balance of being like a role model and someone who students can depend on when a problem occurs. If there's a lack of balance in teaching them and an impression on you, students tend to do what they want since they might lose interest in your class.

Don't be afraid to show different sides of yourself like being able to entertain your class or helping them relate to a lesson through experience. Also, it's also okay to share some of your previous wisdom and experience to your students since after all, they are still growing kids and they appreciate morals. Don't be afraid to talk to your students because it can lead to interesting conversations and interest them.

These were most of the things that my previous student teachers lacked in but I hope you are doing well as a teacher.



 

Well, it depends on the class. I am twelve and in seventh grade myself, and I am a perfectly quiet student that teachers find easy to handle. Of course, I've had no experience myself, but like I said before, it depends on the character of your students. Not everyone is the same. So,  just be prepared for anything. (Sorry if this was too late).

HI, yes when I was in Middle and High School, we had student teachers all the time. My advice would be do not let the students know you were  nervous. When I was in school if students knew a student teacher was nervous they would act up (I didn't but others did). Second, let the students know that you are in control that would be my advice. Third, make the material interesting and engage in the students. If you engage with them they are more likely to listen to you. 

I will be praying for you that you do good.