Student teaching is a requirement for graduation and teacher certification in the US. Student teachers are matched with a host teacher and gradually become more involved in the classroom, eventually teaching and planning lessons unsupervised. They often teach in two classrooms and reflect on their strengths and weaknesses at the end of the experience.
Part of becoming a teacher is spending a year getting teaching experience. Student teaching usually occurs during a teaching credentials program. It is a requirement for graduation, as well as teacher certification, in the United States.
Student teachers often meet the host teacher, also called a collaborating teacher, before starting time in the classroom. The student teacher is matched with a collaborating teacher at the college where the student is attending. Students are paired with a teacher who teaches the age group and subject they plan to teach themselves. In this kickoff meeting, the host teacher will talk about his classroom and the expectations he has for the experience, and the student and host teacher will get to know each other.
On the first day of the teacher’s classroom experience, the teacher will be introduced to students in the classroom. The first few weeks of teaching students are for observation. Teachers observe how the classroom works and how the teacher interacts with students. They may be asked to work individually with some students during study halls or while students are working at their desks.
After this initial observation period, the student teacher will begin to become more involved in the classroom. This is the time when teachers will start to teach small parts of the class and be more involved with students. They begin working to achieve their own personal goals for the student’s teaching experience, as well as those set by the university and the host professor. Teachers will be designing and using assessment techniques as well as creating lesson plans under the supervision of the host teacher.
As teachers spend more time in the classroom, they are given more and more responsibilities. During the last few weeks in the classroom, a student will be planning lessons and teaching, possibly unsupervised. This is also the time when teachers are most involved in classroom management. By this time, the host teacher works to help you without getting in your way. The host teacher can step in if the student needs help, but is only playing a supportive role in the classroom.
Most teaching students teach in two classrooms, often in two separate school districts. This gives the student a chance to experience different classroom dynamics, as well as gain enough experience to prepare for their own classroom. Student teaching experiences often end with a time of reflection, allowing the teacher, host, and faculty professor to assess the student’s strengths and weaknesses. This gives teachers a chance to set new improvement goals for the second teaching experience or the first year of teaching. With these goals in mind, they can aim to become better teachers when they have their own classroom in the fall.
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