Crafting Classroom Confidence: The 6 Things you Should Be Doing to Maximize Your Student Teaching Journey

If you’re in the thick of your student teaching experience as you read this, you’re probably feeling slightly overwhelmed, excited, terrified, happy, and exhausted all day, every day. Taking on a teacher’s full course load, plus your classes and managing life, is a lot. I remember feeling such a wide array of emotions while I was doing my student teaching practicum and while I was tired, I was also so excited–excited for what teaching felt like, for what the future held for me. 

I had THE MOST AMAZING cooperating teacher I could have ever asked for. I still, 15 years later, vividly remember my first meeting with her. She was a veteran teacher, respected by faculty and students. She taught mostly honors-level English classes at an academically competitive high school. The first time I met her face-to-face, I remember walking into the conference room to see her sitting there, fur coat draped over her shoulders, sitting up straight, makeup pristine (it was the end of the day). She was terrifying and warm, all wrapped into one. She was the kind of English teacher that could recite literature at length as casually as people sing a Christmas carol. As we started talking, she informed me I would teach all her honors classes and I was to start with Shakespeare’s Othello. I was so intimidated to even be in front of a class, let alone teach a bunch of honors kids SHAKESPEARE. I still remember getting into my car after our meeting and driving straight to a coffee shop to start researching and planning. I had instantly become a ball of anxiety. 

I shadowed my cooperating teacher for two weeks before my student teaching experience even officially started. She asked me to come in a few days a week to observe, learn the students’ names, and start planning. I remember sitting in the back left corner of her U-shaped classroom (something pretty innovative back then), knowing with every fiber of my being that I was going to learn from her the skills I needed to show up as a strong teacher. 

My experience didn’t disappoint. She had high expectations for me, as did her students, and I felt that pressure each and every day. Boy, am I grateful for that. What I didn’t plan for was that Joan didn’t just expect me to take over her classes; she expected me to get the entire experience of what an involved faculty member at a high school was like. She wanted me to become immersed in the school, and so, I followed her to the various school organizations she was a part of, some student-led, some led by administration. She encouraged me, on my prep, instead of grading or planning, to go to other teachers’ classrooms to experience various styles of teaching, and she encouraged me to find a student club and get involved during my time there. She wanted me to embody the entire life of a high school teacher. I am so grateful for my student teaching experience, and while it took me a few years into teaching to truly become the best version of myself, I know almost all the good parts of me as a teacher and a professional are thanks to Joan Cleary. 

I know my student teaching experience was exceptional, and not everyone is afforded the opportunity to be at such an academically driven, top-tier school with a cooperating teacher who truly wanted to have me leave her classroom fully prepared for the realities of having my own. So, let’s discuss some of the ways you can get the most out of your student teaching experience.

1. Show up like it’s your own. You need to own this situation. I know how difficult it may be to walk into someone else’s classroom and feel like you’re being judged. Here’s the reality: you chose to teach high school students; they’re going to judge you whether you’re being timid or your owning your lessons–you might as well have them respect the effort.
   

2. Get to school early. I was always an early bird–I still am, no matter where I go in life. I attribute that to always being one of the last to be picked up as a child, but I think getting to school early does a few things: it allows you the opportunity to be fully prepared for the day without being scrambled; the students know where they can find you if they really need something, and the administration will take note. No one will ever give you an award for showing up early; in fact, some union old timers will probably give you grief (to which you politely smile and continue to do you), but showing up early is an easy practice that helps set your day up for success.
   

3. Be clear with your cooperating teacher and find out what the expectations are. Are there systems, grading policies, concepts you're expected to teach or uphold? How much freedom do you really have in the classroom? It may also be a good idea to find out what’s working well with the students because you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. You want to have an authentic experience, but if students really enjoy a particular type of assignment or lesson, you should lean into that and integrate it into your own experience.
   

4. Get involved. I know you’re busy, I get it. But getting involved does more than get you brownie points with administration and students. Getting involved gives you insight you haven’t gathered from your college classrooms. For instance, getting involved with a student club or sport will allow you the opportunity to see how teachers interact with students outside of the classroom; being a part of a faculty committee will allow you to gain a glimpse into the behind the scenes of the school, what schools are working on, what trends are forthcoming you may have to implement. Getting involved weaves you into the community and that’s important. Being involved will also give you more confidence inside the classroom. Like the old adage says, the more you know. 
   

5. Utilize everything as a learning opportunity and say yes even when you want to say no. While I’m normally an advocate of the saying “If it isn’t a hell yes, it’s a hell no,” your student teaching experience should be viewed differently. You only know what you know, and there’s no other time you will have the opportunity to have a low stakes commitment into school activities and how schools function. SO, go observe other teachers in the building whenever you can (and if they’re willing), take initiative and ask to sit in on National Honors Society deliberations or administrative run panels, help out with a club you are interested in or a sport you enjoy. Do all the things now because here’s the thing–if you end up not liking it? Well, you’re only at that school for a short period of time regardless so you just leave when you’re done. Chances are though, you’ll enjoy your experience and you’ll learn far more about what it takes to be a good teacher. The strong teachers are the ones invested in the school community–regardless of how many years they’ve been there or how busy their personal lives are, the really good teachers find time to show up outside of their classrooms for their students and schools. Stick with the good teachers, you’ll have a far more enjoyable experience and career than the ones who run their mouths in the faculty room and don’t do anything else.
   

6. Ask for feedback and honestly reflect on your lessons and assessments. Your cooperating teacher will naturally give you feedback, that’s part of their job as your cooperating teacher; however, you should make the effort to ask for it also. If you have a lesson that you thought went really well–ask him or her what they thought of it, if you struggled with a lesson or part of a lesson, ask for recommendations for how they would alter it. Remember, this experience isn’t about your ego, you are a new teacher–you’ve never had your own classroom before so lean on your cooperating teacher for feedback as to how you’re doing. One other thing: make sure you don’t get defensive when they give you honest criticism. Let it soak in and try to see if those suggestions could help you be the best teacher you can be. It’s also important that you reflect as well: you’ll never remember every kind of lesson or project that went well or the small tweaks you would want to make in the future if you don’t write it down, leave yourself a post-it note on the assignment, or leave a comment in your Google doc. Be honest with yourself, it’s for your growth. 

Once you get hired for your first teaching position you’ll be in it. Yes, you’ll have a mentor and colleagues you can lean on but the reality of the situation is, everyone will be pretty busy–so use your student teaching experience to gather as much information, knowledge, and experience you can so when you start at your school, you start the best version of yourself as possible.