Getting Started...

Welcome to Student Teaching! This is an exciting, rewarding, and challenging semester. You will emerge a changed person! Besides knowing the policies, understanding the courser requirements, and staying organized, you will begin teaching your own lessons and running activities in the classroom every day. This is a good time to really start thinking about your classroom management skills. Be an observer/researcher of your mentor teacher - note different routines and procedures she/he has in place. Ask for handouts, take pictures, gather artifacts to help you remember how to implement similar routines in your own classroom. Also, be sure to ask your teacher how he/she taught the procedures to the students. Teaching procedures takes time and tenacity, but once they are learned, they will save you enormous amounts of time and will make your classroom run smoothly.

Another area to research is how your mentor teacher disciplines students who are off-task. For example, what does he/she say to get a student's attention or to redirect a student? Take down the one-liners and practice saying them with confidence in the mirror. If you say something succinctly and with confidence, you will demand a student's attention. You have to believe students will listen to you and say it like you believe it. AND, you have to consistently follow through with your discipline plan, the consequences, and the rewards.

As a new teacher, I would ask students "Is that what you are supposed to be doing?" when they were off-task. This allowed them room to answer in smart way and did not inform/remind them about what they were supposed to be doing. So, one tip someone gave me and that I have used successfully is to state in a firm voice (without raising my voice) what the student is doing and then tell the student what he/she should be doing.

Example: Jake you are talking to Kylie. You should be reading your book. Please turn around and read your book now.

This month I will write about classroom management - you can't have an effective lesson if your classroom is not well-managed!

Practice your letter writing skills!

Handwritten notes or letters seem to be a novelty these days in the age of emails, text messages, and word processing. Many of my friends and family even email their Holiday Cards to us! In my opinion, handwritten notes and letters really say a person cares. Remember those handwritten notes you got in your lunchbox as a child? How about a valentine from a secret crush? Have you ever received a handwritten note from a teacher?

One way to "reward" your students (without giving them "things") is to make extra time for them. Some teachers schedule "V.I.P" time with students who earn rewards. Another way to show students you have noticed their hard work is to write them a handwritten, personalized note. Children love hearing their teachers say nice things to them and about them. With a handwritten note, children can save/savor teachers' words of praise and share them with their caregivers or parents. From an instructional standpoint, teachers can model good handwriting, grammar, written communication/authentic discourse, and new vocabulary through handwritten notes to children.

A great gift for yourself or a student teacher friend is fun, colorful stationery or notecards and fancy pens. Think about what might make a child in your classroom feel special. If you choose to write to children, it is imperative that spelling and grammar are correct because you are a model for them (and their parents and caregivers will most likely see your writing too!).

You can make your own stationery on the computer or with paper, stamps and stickers. You can also buy notecards at the dollar store or you can order personalized stationery from places like http://www.thestationerystudio.com/ But, you do not have to spend a lot of money for the supplies. What the note says is more important than the paper!

It is a good idea to make a copy or take a picture of your notes to children. These can be a good discussion point during an interview. You can discuss how you use handwritten notes as rewards, for modeling language arts skills, and as feedback.

Get Crafty! Feel like a kid again!

Of course any teacher knows you will accumulate TONS of art supplies over your long career of teaching, but if you don't have the basics, you should definitely consider investing in them. I will provide a list of some of my favorite things to start a student teacher off on the right foot. As the semester progresses, student teachers will learn what else they need as they begin to make things for their classrooms:

1) Good Markers and Sharpies(Thick)
2) Expo Markers for Chart Paper (Variety of Colors that are easy to see - black, red, green, blue)
3) Two-sided tape for hanging (non-sticky) chart paper
4) correction tape (for interactive writing and mistakes on chart paper)
5) Glue
6) Masking tape and regular tape
7) Hole Punch, yarn, and brads (brass paper fasteners) (materials for making books)
8) Stapler (for bulletin boards)
9) Good Pair of Scissors
10)Colored Paper - All shapes and sizes (construction paper, oragami paper, wrapping paper for bulletin boards and mounting student work)

The good news is that you can find many of the general supplies listed here at a dollar store (except for good markers - and you really need these!). Don't worry about buying supplies for students yet. You don't need general supplies for them because your mentor teacher will have these. However, you will need to provide any specific/unique materials that students need to complete one of your lesson plans. BUT - check with your mentor teacher before buying supplies for children.

Once you have your stock of art supplies you will no doubt be anxious to put them to use! A great first art project for a new student teacher is to make an "All About Me" book. You can include a picture of yourself, your name, your favorite foods, activities, books, sports, etc. Make each new fact about yourself a new page. Here is a picture of an all about me book (note-you should not include any personal information such as telephone number and address):


Once you have completed your All About Me book, send it to your Mentor Teacher with a special note to the children in the class about how you look forward to meeting them soon! Children will be so excited to meet you and you may even be pleasantly surprised when the children send you their own All About books.

You can google "All About Me" books for more information or ideas about how to create your own book.

Happy crafting!

Live By Your Calendar

If you do not yet keep a calendar, now is the time to start! Student teachers should consider learning how to use an electronic or phone calendar (google, outlook, oracle, etc) buying a paper calendar/agenda book, or buying a calendar app to help keep them organized and to help with time management. Not only will student teachers need to keep track of their semeseter and daily schedule for their own purposes, but student teachers need to keep their University Supervisor in the loop about their school schedules.

Once student teachers get a calendar, they need to USE it. It should travel everywhere with them and they should be updating it constantly. Here is my advice on how to use a calendar:

1) Once you get the syllabus from your University, add all project due dates to your calendar and block out time each week for your weekly seminar meetings and readings/homework. Make a note (I like to use stick notes) of all the assignments that do not have defined due dates (e.g., supervisor and mentor teacher observations). You will have to add these to your calendar as you schedule them. Don't forget!
2) Next, look at your school schedule and note holidays, early dismissals, conferences, after-school meetings, professional development, etc. on your calendar.
3) Now, add in any personal events or appointments that you already have scheduled (doctor, dentist, work, etc.).

**If you have conflicts, you need to resolve them before student teaching begins. Student teachers are expected to be at school every day!**

Update this calendar every week. Use it to help yourself with time management. For example, I like to add personal reminders, or motivators, to my calendar to help me remember to get started on projects well before they are due. Once you have all of your projects and school events posted on the calendar, do some thinking about when you should begin your projects and write a kind reminder to yourself to GET STARTED!!
I like to start projects at least 2-3 weeks in advance if possible. For major projects, I like to divide the project into parts (for example your Teaching Unit or Final Portfolio are huge and have mini components) and give myself due dates for each part. That way I am not doing everything at the last minute!

This calendar will give you a "big picture" or your semester and will help you stay on top of all assignments and events at your school.

In addition to this "Big Picture" calendar that you keep, you will most likely be responsible for sending a detailed weekly schedule to your University Supervisor. My advice would be to keep this schedule in a word document on the computer. Create a table with five columns (Monday-Friday) and write in the schedule underneath each day. Modify the table each week as needed.

One of the best gifts you can give yourself or a friend who is student teaching is the gift of time management skills. Student teachers must have good time management to balance all aspects of their lives during the student teaching semester. The key to time managment is to think ahead. Schedule time before your semester starts to start your calendar.

If you are like me, you need to get excited about keeping a calendar! I love to take an annual trip to the bookstore to pick out an agenda for the new year. The more colorful and creative the agenda, the more likely I am to want to use it. But, that is just me - you need to figure out what works for you.

Here is a link to the "best" agendas/planners for 2012: http://www.squidoo.com/unique-calendars-planners

Get Inspired!

Student teaching comes with many challenges, but many more rewards. It is easy to feel challenged and discouraged because teaching is hard work and it takes time and practice to perfect one's teaching abilities. However, student teachers need to learn to push through the hard times and believe that the challenges they face will only make them better teachers. That doesn't mean student teachers need to suffer through the challenging times. In contrast, student teachers should embrace the difficult times and use them to find inspiration and motivation to improve. There are many ways to do this - talking with POSITIVE colleagues and peers is most helpful. Motivation and inspiration comes to me through exercise, spending time with my family, doing something active outside, writing, and listening to music. Student teachers need to figure out something they can do each day to help them stay fresh and energized about their decision to teach. A great gift to yourself or a student teacher friend is an inspirational ipod playlist. Your playlist can have many themes related to teaching: strength, helping children, making the world a better place, happiness, or, one of my favorites - the "you rock" playlist. Choose songs that represent the theme, make you or a friend smile and most of all inspire you to keep getting better!

Organize...Organize...Organize!

Student teachers need to be incredibly organized during their student teaching semester. They must keep track of their lesson plans, lesson plan reflections, teaching observations, interesting and motivational handouts, research articles, and more! In essence, student teachers must keep a record of everything they do during their experience by collecting papers, photographs, etc. Then they must organize all of these artifacts into a coherent portfolio (like a professional scrapbook) that makes a case for why they are an effective teacher. If a student teacher does not keep artifacts organized along the way then they will have a difficult time putting their professional portfolio together.

What I am trying to say is that student teachers need an organizational system for the semester. So, a great gift for yourself (if you are a student teacher) or a student teacher friend would be an organization station. Here are the ingredients for an organization station:

Medium Size Binder and three hole punch or plastic paper protectors


Keep daily lesson plans organized chronologically in the binder. Use dividers/tabs to divide papers into three sections. In the first section keep ALL lesson plans organized chronologically (keep handouts/materials with each lesson plan - use plastic sheet protectors or envelopes to store materials). In the second section keep your unit plans and materials. In the third section keep extra copies of lesson plans that you think you will include in your final portfolio (those lesson plans that exemplify your performance on the state performance framework).

File Box



Keep all other papers and artifcats organized in individual files. Label each file folder clearly (e.g., observations, analysis, motivational artifacts, useful handouts, etc.). In addition to folders you will include for each of the artifacts you must collect during the semester, include three additional folders: 1) Include one file folder for miscellaneous in case you collect something that does not fit neatly into the other folders; 2) Include one file for "To Be Filed" items in case you do not have time to file papers one day; 3) Include one file folder for "Portfolio" and include copies of artifacts from other folders that you want to include in your portfolio OR move artifacts from other folders into the "Portfolio" folder.

Pencil Case or Small Basket



Keep pens, pencils, post-it notes, white out, scissors, highlighter, etc., in this case for easy access when noting something or writing reminders for yourself.

Student Teachers can ask their mentor teachers to help them find a safe spot in the classroom to keep their "organization stations." Happy Organizing!!

Remember the lunchbox you used in elementary school?

Well, it's time to break out a lunch box again!



One great gift for yourself or a friend who is a student teacher is a lunch box and/or a travel mug. In contrast to college classes, which begin at 8:30 or later, student teachers will need to arrive at their schools much earlier. Making your morning coffee or tea at home will save you time and money!

For example, here is an excerpt from a recent article about what you can save by not buying coffee:

"While it's no surprise that making your own cup of coffee is cheaper than buying it on the outside, the savings over time are eye-opening. Here's a telling contrast: A 6-ounce cup of coffee made at home, at about 17 cents a cup per day, adds up to $1.19 a week and $62.05 a year. A 16-ounce grande coffee from Starbucks, at $2.29 per day, adds up to $16.03 per week, and a hefty $835.85 per year -- the price of a mini vacation."

See full article from DailyFinance: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/01/25/savings-experiment-the-perks-of-brewing-versus-buying-coffee/

Another great idea is a lunchbox/bag. It's easy for college students to swing by the campus cafeteria or dining hall to pick up a snack or a meal between classes. However, a student teacher who spends all day in an elementary school does not have this luxury. Sure, you can eat what the children are eating in the school cafeteria, but there is really only so much rectangular pizza and chocolate milk from a carton you can take! Packing your lunch can help you stay healthy, save you time, and save you money!

Here are some of my favorites bottles, mugs, and lunch bags:
1) Travel mugs/water bottles from Life is Good or cafepress.com
2) Personalized lunch bags from LLBean, Pottery Barn Kids, Lands End