Student Teaching Nightmare

In theory, student teaching is supposed to determine a teacher candidate's competence in front of the classroom. I learned about the roles different people play, but most of all, I learned what not to do as a teacher. I'm looking back on this experience after speaking with well-respected Education professors and secondary teachers alike, and now have new insight into what I could have done to make things more bearable.

My cooperating teacher, who will be referred to as Ms. Smith, began her acquaintance with me on the wrong foot. When I arrived on the first Monday, she told me that she was administering simulated state exams, and that the state mandates that no one besides the teacher was allowed in the room while the students were taking them. She failed to mention this to me when I met her the previous Friday. I found out that two other student teachers in the school were allowed to stay in the classroom during the exam. Strike one?

What I should have done/what you should do

This should have been an early warning sign for me, but I was still under the impression that she knew what she was talking about. If something seems odd, you can either ask the Assistant Principal of the department or ask to be re-assigned.

The first two weeks of my assignment were spent tidying the room and getting to know students' names. I asked for copies of her lesson plans, but she always forgot the following day. Shouldn't she have access to her work material while at work? I had reminded Ms. Smith that I was supposed to take over one of her classes after Winter Break, and she promised me that I would. When we came back, she conveniently forgot about this, and instead allowed me to teach a lesson whenever she had to do something such as run down to the office or talk with a colleague. It wouldn't have been that bad if I was allowed to create my own lessons, as the program stipulates, but I had to use her lessons, even when my supervisor observed me!

Cooperating teachers are also supposed to allow time for conferencing with their student teacher. This time can be used to discuss upcoming lesson units, assessments, explain the pros and cons of a lesson that the student teacher taught or for the cooperating teacher to share some insight into the wonderful world of teaching. How else can a student teacher be inspired if the cooperating teacher is not willing to share in his or her satisfaction? Ms. Smith was always in a rush to leave her classroom whenever she had a free period, and I had to literally follow her down the hallway just to have one question answered.

By the middle of March, I was fed up. I reported her to my graduate advisor, who promised me that she would make a "surprise" visit on a Wednesday morning, but the only surprise was that she never showed. My advisor kept telling me to "hang in there," that she would be down as soon as she settled into her new office. She never showed.

What I should have done/what you should do

I told my seminar professor what was going on, and she was appalled that my advisor took such a casual role. My professor doubled as a supervisor, so I should have made a personal request for her to drop by and observe.

The situation reached a pinnacle one morning when Ms. Smith asked me to observe another teacher so that she could talk with one of her colleagues in front of the students. Wary of things, I stood in the hallway for about ten minutes, when both women walked out of the classroom. Since students should never be left unattended, I walked back into the room of 25 curious sixth graders who were pumping me for information. "Do you know who got fired, Ms. V?" one of the girls asked. Apparently, gossip was more important at that moment to Ms. Smith than doing her job! Then again, she didn't do her job very well, so why should it matter to her? While chastising one of the classes for their behavior one day, she actually singled out a boy who "should be in the seventh grade now"!

What I should have done/what you should do

Report the cooperating teacher. It's a long process that begins with an administrator asking students for eyewitness testimony- in this case how Ms. Smith identified the student who was left back-but it also opens an investigation. During the semester, I acquainted myself with several ELA teachers with whom I had a great deal of respect for. One of them even asked if I wanted to teach one of his lessons for him to critique me on! I'm sure that switching cooperating teachers mid-semester wouldn't have been too much of a hassle. I thought it was unorthodox at the time, but isn't it ironic how unorthodox I allowed Ms. Smith to be towards me?

Granted, it's too late for me, but I hope that this helps those who want to become teachers. It's important to remember that student teaching does not have to be stressful, but it does have to be helpful.