The Yellow Board

Advice for student teaching

Posted by Almost there on 1/9/2021, 11:58 pm

I will be starting my student teaching assignment on Monday and I am excited! I've been reaching out to friends who have recently started their careers for advice and one told me about this site. I would ask what your best advice is, but instead I would like to ask this: What do you wish you would have learned or wish you could have done differently during your student teaching? Thanks in advance!

Re: Advice for student teaching

Posted by 2nd year teacher on 1/15/2021, 11:32 am, in reply to "Advice for student teaching"

I think all those comments were right! Biggest things are observing the first couple of weeks. Write down in a notebook how they do their class and anything that you want to steal from them!....(Notice seating charts, behavior with students)You will take over and the kids will need to do what they normally do.

Ask about 504 and T-tess stuff.. Wish I knew more about that stuff....accommodations....gradebook...

Stuff that you think band people don't need/have to do^^^^^^

Have a really good relationship with your mentor. They will be giving you recommendations for your future job!

Also, get comfortable with other instruments. Stray away from your main so you can soak up tips to help you teach other instruments. I am a trumpet main teaching beginner Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet and Percussion.

Lastly, ASK QUESTIONS.... Ask WHY they do certain things.

Re: Advice for student teaching

Posted by real world on 1/11/2021, 12:15 pm, in reply to "Advice for student teaching"

I would ask to see if you can spend a few days at a campus with the direct opposite demographic/socioeconomic set up as the the school you are at. Every district has schools on both sides of the spectrum.

You need to be fully aware of the wide gambit of programs that you may step into on your first day teaching, and you need to be prepared to handle both.

Re: Advice for student teaching

Posted by Concur... on 1/11/2021, 4:49 pm, in reply to "Re: Advice for student teaching"

...I agree. One person that student taught the same semester I did actually requested placement at an inner city school. At the time, the rest of us all thought she was nuts; we were all headed to "Super Awesome 6A Band HS". As I look back, her decision made a lot of sense.

Re: Advice for student teaching

Posted by JW on 1/11/2021, 10:28 am, in reply to "Advice for student teaching"

Exciting! Congrats. Student teaching is a really valuable time.

Be respectful, be polite, but be confident. Make eye contact with mentor teachers, other teachers/admin, and students. Answer in complete sentences or with a strong yes/no when asked questions. No "uh huh" "sure" or non-verbals grunts. Enunciate. There's no second chance to make a good first impression, and hopefully your mentor teachers will be your strongest advocate on the job hunt this spring. Turn your phone off and put it away when you get to school.

Listen first - You will probably be eager to jump in and ask lots of questions. For the first week or two especially though, listen and keep your eyes open much more than you talk. Watch for classroom procedures, how your mentor teachers redirect student attention, how they plan and pace their classes. Everyone is busy, and this is a more stressful year than average for most. Be mindful of when and how you ask questions - be direct, be concise, and don’t ask the others director a question right as they’re walking up to the podium to start their rehearsal.

Take notes - if you are mostly observing at the beginning, use that time to take notes. If you can’t take notes during the classes, debrief during conference periods/at the end of the day. You’ll think you’ll remember everything - trust me, you won’t!

When you’re asked to do something, do it - if you are a trumpet player who is asked to pull the clarinets for a sectional, and you don’t remember the first thing about clarinet, that is ok! Ask the kids to remind each other about fingerings if needed, and focus on the things you know - right rhythm, right pitches, musicality. Everything seems manageable and straight forward in your college classroom - the only way to test yourself and figure out what you don’t know is to get out there and do it. Better to figure out your big gaps during students teaching (if you can) than during the first job!

Pay attention to everything behind the scenes - everything thinks about getting their beginners to play well, getting their band prepared for UIL, but the teaching/playing aspects are really just the tip of the iceberg in terms of doing the job well. How are UIL entries done? When do the directors start laying out next year’s calendar? If middle school, how/when does recruiting next year’s beginners happen? If high school, what recruiting is in place for the 8th graders? How often do the director communicate with parents? Is there a social media presence for the program? Trip planning, budget, etc. Is there a boosters/how do they interact with the boosters? Fundraising?

Other thoughts:

If it is okay with your mentor teachers, sit in one of the non-varsity groups and play along on a secondary instrument. This helps them by having another adult in the room amongst the kids, and it helps you build skills on another instrument, and hear the group from the inside.

When you begin taking over parts of beginner classes and rehearsals, be sure to record yourself and listen/watch back. You can eliminate tons of inefficiencies quickly by watching yourself.

If you disagree with the way your mentor teachers handle something, 1) keep it to yourself 2) think through specifically how you think you would want to handle the situation instead. It is easy to criticize... don't. No one handles things exactly how they'd want to 100% of the time, and until you are in your own job it is hard to understand all of the factors that go into managing the classroom.

Make sure to write down the things you see that you want to take to your own program - classroom management, rehearsal techniques - and start brainstorming what else YOU would want to bring to your own program. Start looking for resources now.

Good luck!

Re: Advice for student teaching

Posted by Mostly agree on 1/11/2021, 1:00 pm, in reply to "Re: Advice for student teaching"

This is solid advice, but I have one disagreement. If you disagree with how your mentor teacher handles something, I think you should absolutely bring it up. Don't be accusatory, or act as if you know better, but ask and find out the reasons. Maybe there's a previous history with a particular kid that you don't know about, maybe it's just a matter of musical taste, maybe a teacher who's actively working with kids every day knows better than your college professor who hasn't been inside a middle school in decades. There are multiple paths and many of them lead to the same place eventually.

Re: Advice for student teaching

Posted by JW on 1/11/2021, 3:02 pm, in reply to "Re: Advice for student teaching"

Great point. Thanks!

Re: Advice for student teaching

Posted by Tagging on... on 1/11/2021, 9:45 am, in reply to "Advice for student teaching"

To tag on to the response about social media. This means ALL of you social media.

Comb through it and "clean" if you need to. At very minimum, set your accounts to a privacy setting that only allows your friends to see it.

Be cautious about posts you make to others as well since they can be visible even if you intend for them not to be.

Whether you like it or not, your social media presence can put you under a microscope if someone has an axe to grind.

While it may feel like you are being censored, keep in mind the role that we play as educators and the standards that most people have for the people that come into contact with their children.

Also, understand that this standard is not necessarily the standard those same parents have for themselves...

Re: Advice for student teaching

Posted by LISTEN on 1/11/2021, 9:37 am, in reply to "Advice for student teaching"

A real band in a real school, even one many of the top schools, sound nothing like your University band. Get that out of your head right away.

Student Teachers who just show up and observe do not make a good impression. Ask if you can help with daily responsibilities, set up, copies, and all kinds of things. Assume you are an interim assistant and be of service. Mostly keep quiet until you are told to interact with students. Be very careful about that. Ask questions about operations and observe as you take tons of notes.

Having a degree is license to start your career-the learning process is just beginning. Make sure your cooperating teachers have a great view of you for references in the future.

Finally, clean up social media. I've walked into interviews where they had my Facebook page pulled up. I had nothing embarrassing posted, but they will dig you up. Promise.

Best of luck! It's an exciting time.

Re: Advice for student teaching

Posted by agree on 1/11/2021, 11:28 am, in reply to "Re: Advice for student teaching"

Build your skill of being able to observe and see what needs to be done in the band hall. If directors are setting up or moving equipment, just start helping. If it's something with students, check with a director first. Show the band staff that you are active and not passive.

Re: Advice for student teaching

Posted by long timer on 1/11/2021, 9:32 am, in reply to "Advice for student teaching"

I wish I had asked about the non-teaching aspect of the job and been a part of that as well.

Re: Advice for student teaching

Posted by Driller on 1/11/2021, 8:00 am, in reply to "Advice for student teaching"

Make sure your social media presence isn't something that could create an issue...especially if you plan to teach in rural areas. Remember, students, parents, admin and colleagues will look you up.

Re: Advice for student teaching

Posted by Piggyback on 1/11/2021, 9:05 am, in reply to "Re: Advice for student teaching"

Make sure 100% of your PERSONAL profiles are set to as locked down as possible.

Friends of friends can't view or comment. Only friends can see and view, that sort of thing. (FB)

Make sure you don't have any PERSONAL social media associated with your PROFESSIONAL email address (the one you use in your resume!) If you have social media associated with your real name, change it or scrub, scrub, scrub. If you don't have a separate email address, it's VERY easy to create a sub-address on Google or Yahoo that are linked to your primary account. If your gmail is BobbyJones@gmail, and you've used that since middle school, make one such as "RobertJones182@gmail" as a linked account.

Also, while you're at it, make sure your email address is ... professional. I've gotten emails from things like "littlekitten13@yahoo" or "youdontknowme@gmail" ... make sure your email address doesn't tell anything about yourself that you don't want to know.

That being said, make sure you HAVE Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts and have linked them to your professional email. Put a little bit of 100% bland, work-safe stuff there. Add a teeny bit about your personal life. You want your social media presence to exist, but to be in no way questionable.

You can have your OWN, PRIVATE accounts (FULLY locked down), but you need a 100% positive net presence on everything you put out there for employers.

Re: Advice for student teaching

Posted by JP on 1/10/2021, 10:21 pm, in reply to "Advice for student teaching"

I'm sure that this thread will flood with lots of great advice. Personally, I was always afraid to ask questions because I didn't want to give the impression that I didn't know something. It is a really silly mindset. The reality is that you'll realize very quickly how a textbook approach to teaching at Perfect Scenario ISD is a lot different to the real world. Ask. Ask about everything from budget, contest entry, inventory, and classroom management, to work/home life balance.

This is a great time to start developing your listening skills. Your college ensemble probably sounds a little different than the groups you'll hear everyday. How so and why? Diagnosis of balance, intonation, tone, articulation, etc. issues is only the beginning of the process. Being able to provide effective and concise feedback is where a master teacher will truly shine. Again, don't be afraid to ask for help from your master teacher.

Congratulations on getting to this next step in your journey. I hope you have a positive student teaching experience.

Re: Advice for student teaching

Posted by Peyton HIllis on 1/10/2021, 10:16 pm, in reply to "Advice for student teaching"

"You know nothing....and that's okay."

Re: Advice for student teaching

Posted by Jeremy on 1/10/2021, 5:24 pm, in reply to "Advice for student teaching"

What age group would you like to teach ideally after student teaching?

Re: Advice for student teaching

Posted by Almost there on 1/11/2021, 7:37 pm, in reply to "Re: Advice for student teaching"

Eventually high school, but my high school director who I look up to advised that I should start as a MS assistant and teach beginners.

Re: Advice for student teaching

Posted by My response on 1/12/2021, 11:10 am, in reply to "Re: Advice for student teaching"

If you want to teach high school, teach high school. If you don't want to teach beginners, don't teach beginners.

There are plenty of HS second and third assistant jobs for young go-getters. Do what you feel called to do.

If you don't feel "ready" to teach high school for whatever reason, teaching beginners is very much a different animal. It's just as hard, but in much different ways. Don't start there because it's "easy" because it flat-out isn't. Go someplace you can be an assistant and learn on the job - that's how you get "ready" as a HS director. You don't have to run the show your first year teaching.

Re: Advice for student teaching

Posted by The Commish on 1/13/2021, 8:07 am, in reply to "Re: Advice for student teaching"

As I was student teaching, a mentor of mine sat me down to ask what types of jobs I was planning to seek. I told him HS. He suggested that it would be best for me to find a middle school position. I feared teaching beginners because I realized how much of their future lied in my hands and I didn't think I could do it. He said that was precisely why I needed to start there - if I could teach beginners, I could teach older kids. Knowing (and being able to teach) the fundamentals is so important to what we do.

My first gig ended up being a HS assistant because that was the place willing to hire me (I actually did have a class of beginners that year at the HS). Now, 20 years later, I've taught beginners every year and have been a middle school director for most of it. I truly believe this is where I am supposed to be. Maybe my mentor knew that and just had a better way to convince me that I should start there. Or, maybe he thought that's just where I needed to start. But, I do believe what he told me - being able to teach beginners will transfer to all other positions.

« Back to index

378

[ The Yellow Board ]