Adventures of a Teacher in Transition
Allison. 24. Illinois.Recently graduated with a B.A in English education. AVID tutor. Substitute teacher. Attempting to navigate life outside of college.
Feel free to send me a message, especially if you have any questions about student teaching :]
[Also if you follow me and then randomly get a follow from another Tumblr with "Allison" in the title, that's my personal.]
Student Teaching Survey.
1. Did you have to meet on campus at all during the semester for anything (advisor, class, seminar, etc.)? If so, why and how often?
My college didn’t require classes or meetings with advisers, but there were two things we had to return to campus for: An education-only job fair that happens to be at my college and the IATE Conference, which was in Springfield this year. Before student teaching officially started, we had a two day seminar to introduce us to the idea of student teaching and all that LiveText stuff we were responsible for. We also had an end of student teaching seminar where we talked about our experiences, learned about how to apply for certification, and filled out information about our experience.
2. How far away from your school could you go for student teaching?
We could go basically anywhere in our state to student teach, as long as we had somewhere to live. Once we had our choice for where we would live, we could then get placed up to 40 miles (or maybe it was minutes?) away from our home. I got placed about 15-20 miles away, which was about a 45 minute — 1 hour drive for me. Some people got placed like, 5 minutes away from their house. We couldn’t get placed at the school that we went to, unless we graduated like, 15 years ago.
3. How were you assigned to the school where you student taught/are student teaching?
Three semesters prior to student teaching, we filled out a long application and submitted resumes and a cover letter explaining why we wanted to student teach. Then the people in the English education department handled everything. For my location specifically, they asked for a longer writing sample. After that, I then met with my future cooperating teachers. They walked me through what they wanted, answered my questions, but said that ultimately, the decision was mine to make. I sent them the official decision, and then got my “official” notice from my college with my location. I can’t speak for other people. I know some had interviews with teachers and/or principals, and some just got assigned.
4. Any other interesting tidbits about beginning the student teaching process?
The hardest part for me was learning the students’ names and I wasn’t prepared for it. Also, I was SO incredibly timid and shy at the beginning and wish, more than anything, that I wasn’t. So I think new student teachers should really get in there and not be afraid of anything. Also, recognize that you will make mistakes and you will feel like an idiot. Don’t be afraid to ask a million questions. In fact, I recommend you ask a million questions. I didn’t at first and floundered. Once I started asking for help all the time instead of thinking I could do it alone, I completely kicked ass.
