MENC Forums

I did my student teaching 18 years ago (golly, I'm old)... and I have to say it was a pretty negative experience overall, with the exception of my H.S. chorus and elemetary band placement.  With general music, especially, I would have appreciated my cooperating teachers explaining more to me about their curriculum and their teaching approach - why they taught what they taught and in what order, and maybe some advice on choosing music and activities that are appropriate for various age levels. Really, I was given no more help other than basically being handed the textbooks and asked to plan lessons using songs in the books, and from the limited amount of time that I got to actually observe the teachers it was difficult to figure out the "big picture" of what I was trying to do, and I felt like I was just picking things randomly based on what appealed to me (which is a really poor strategy for lesson planning, now having had many years' experience with teaching and writing lessons on my own).  I think part of the negativity was also that 2 of the teachers (I had 3 total) were just negative people to begin with--would tell me what I was doing wrong but no suggestions for what they would do differently or what I could do to improve it.  I would leave some days on the verge of tears and felt at the end of the whole experience that maybe I had picked the wrong major.  When I got my first job teaching general music, I felt like I was doing everything by trial and error - basically, that I had learned practically nothing through student teaching.  I had to go back to graduate school and take Kodaly levels in order to learn how to sequence lessons and curriculum, and figure out how to plan lessons as part of a big picture rather than just week-to-week.... and also HOW children learn and what types of activities are appealing to them and will motivate them to learn. (Needless to say, my college elementary methods course was also sub-par.)  It would have been helpful to get some of this type of guidance from my cooperating teachers, because since getting the right information I have found that teaching general music is something that I'm suited very well to do.

I actually had my first student teacher last spring as a cooperating teacher, and I tried to make sure that his experience was more beneficial than mine was.  Prior to his coming in to student teach, I gave him a CD-ROM with copies of my curriculum and all the lesson plans I had done thus far that year so he had some idea of what to expect before he started, and also loaned him copies of a bunch of the song resources I use in planning lessons (I don't teach from series texts) and some good reading material which might help him in learning more about working with elementary students that I had personally found helpful.  When we met before he "officially" started, I also explained a little bit about my teaching approach and some of the things that each grade would be learning about in the coming weeks.  I also asked him about his concerns and any questions he had, so I knew where he might need some extra support, and knowing that was actually really helpful to ME (I knew ahead of time that he might need more time observing something in particular, for example, or might be able to give him some resources to help him in those areas). 

I think as far as a schedule for when you start teaching, that's usually between you and your cooperating teacher...but I think a few days of observing and then a more gradual transition into a full teaching load really helped my student teacher gain more confidence and not feel completely overwhelmed.  When I went for a workshop on being a cooperating teacher run by the university he was from, this is also what they suggested.  The first week I just had him mostly observe (and also talked ahead of time about why I was teaching what I was teaching, and after his observations asked him if he had any questions about anything), and then towards the end of the week I asked him if there were a few activities that he had seen me teach that he would like to teach to classes later in the week (so he could get a little experience in front of the students, but also see a model of how it was done first).  The second week we worked collaboratively to write lessons for one grade level and he taught it, and I taught the rest of the grades; the third week he was starting to plan more stuff on his own and adding a couple more grade levels, etc. until by the 4th or 5th week he was teaching/planning all the classes on his own.  Towards the last couple weeks I kind of hid in the band director's office in the corner of my classroom, so that he felt he was more in control of the class (legally I had to be in the room, but I was out of the way so the kids didn't know I was there...if something like this is possible and you feel confident with it, I'd really recommend it, because the kids may behave differently if the cooperating teacher is in the room and you want the full experience of being in charge).  In discussing things with him along the way, he said that he found this helpful - not just so that he didn't have to take on more responsibility than he felt ready for right away, but also because he could see more of my rapport with the students, and also the gradual progression from week to week (in the grades that he took over later) of how I prepared students for learning new material, the amount of repetition and review needed from week to week, and how what I was doing fit into the big picture of the curriculum, which you don't really get just from a few days of observing.  He was very nervous about teaching elementary students, but over the 8 weeks he was with me he improved a lot, and now that he has his first job I feel confident that he can handle himself pretty well.  I don't know how other cooperating teachers feel about their role, but I see it as definitely more of a mentorship role that has a lot of responsibility - I want to feel that this person who is teaching my classes comes away from the experience with some tools and skills that will help him feel he would be able to do it on his own, and just throwing him to the wolves with little guidance and watching him flounder is NOT going to either help or be an enjoyable experience for either him OR my students.  I remember how unprepared I felt years ago, and how little guidance I got, and not giving support where it is needed is IMHO negligent on the part of a cooperating teacher and doing the student teacher a disservice. 

So... if possible, I would definitely ask your cooperating teacher(s) to see their curriculum, some examples of their recent lesson plans so you get a general idea of what is expected of you with material, sequencing, pacing, etc., a few questions about if they use any particular teaching style/approach and where you could get some more info on it if you aren't familiar with it, and also for any books, music resources, or other materials that they think might be helpful.  And ask them what they expect from you, as far as when plans are due, how much you'll expected to be taking on when, if they want you to teach anything specific or if you can choose your own lesson materials, also if they have any performances coming up that they need to meet deadlines for (and if they want you to be involved with that). I think the more questions you ask (you might want to write them down ahead of time!), the better it will be for the both of you.  Also, be prepared (from my own experience, and also in talking to my student teacher) to basically be eating, breathing, and sleeping your student teaching assignment for the months you will be student teaching, because you won't have the time or energy to do much else if you want to really do a good job with it. Don't worry, it gets a lot easier after you get a teaching job and are in the same position for a while, and don't have to plan everything completely from scratch every year :-).  Good luck!!

Last edited by Christine Nowmos (2009-10-30 18:55:30)

My student teaching was one semester: I had six weeks in an urban school and six weeks in a suburban school.  I did not like this set-up at all, felt like I needed more time in each spot. 
I spent the first week observing the cooperating teacher and discussing with him/her the curriculum, rationalle for teaching given concepts at given levels at that time.  Some things I remember thinking "wow, I would never do that, can't believe it works with these kids!"  And some things I wrote down to do in my lessons or donw the road.  I kept a 3-ring binder with a section for notes (things I observed or cooperating teacher comments), lesson reflections, lesson plans and worksheets/materials.

My lessons were along the lines with what the cooperating teacher was doing before I arrived.  When I student taught middle school, the cooperating teacher gave me carte blanche - she let me teach whatever I thought was appropriate.  I shared iwth her my ideas and she gave me input -- after all she knew the kids better than I did. 
We did a lot of discussing why / not given activities would/not work with a given class.  This was very helpful for me. 
During the classes I taught she sat in the back and took notes on what I was doing - good and bad.  Then after the lesson (or at the end of the day) we sat down for a conference about the lesson.  She gave suggestions for fixing problems or mistakes I made.  That was very helpful. 

In my elementary student teaching spot I did 90% what the cooperating teacher was doing.  That was a little confining, I admit.  Also as a student teacher you have to work with what you step into.  That room was a converted locker room, right off the gym.  The teacher had installed sound-proofing foam on the walls (couldn't hang pictures or rules).  There was no chalk/marker board.  That was a big minus for me - no "home base" on which to put my materials.  (That was security for me - always thought I would have apiano or music stand on which to put my lesson plan, CDs, posters, anything I would need for the lesson.)  I just did my best and made it work. 

I think when I stepped into the assignments my big question was WHAT would I teach.  I had the background in music, I needed background in the students and the school environment.  That's why observing for a few days was a big help.  I remmeber feeling anxious to step in for the cooperating teacher after a couple lessons!  The reverse happened, actually.  Once I started teaching most of the day's lessons one cooperating teacher started interjecting comments to the students or other facts during my lesson!  I didn't mind, but the teacher insisted they would leave for a few minutes to resist the urge to contribute. 
Some lessons we co-taught, which was fun.

This is very helpful, thanks!  I'm actually going to be getting a student teacher to work with next semester and I wondered how other people's experiences were. 

Anyone else??