Tips for Mentoring a Student Teacher - Preparing for Your Student Teacher



I've agreed to take a student teacher for this semester.  My student teacher will be in my classroom 2 days a week.  Since this is the first time for her being in a classroom, I have a very important job to do.  I've had student teachers 2 other times and I want to share some things I've learned about being a mentor.

I'm going to run this series until the end of the school year.  It most likely will run every other Thursday until I run out of tips.

With that being said, here's my first tip in this series.



The preparing stage is very important.  As soon as you agree to take a student teacher, you need to start preparing for it immediately.  Start making sure your room is ready for someone else to occupy.

Your student teacher should be given a desk.  
He/she will also need copies of your schedule and class lists.  Highlight names of behavior problems and academic needs.
Make a list of important things you want to share with your student teacher as soon as she/he steps foot in your classroom:
  • names of other teachers on your team
  • how to work the copy machine
  • where the bathrooms are
  • your expectations on arrival time
Kelli Olson says: "I was a student teacher not too long ago and we've had lots at our building this year. Some teachers were not happy with the effort of their student teachers, but they also didn't communicate the best and I think that's key. Mentors need to be clear with expectations and ask their student teachers out right, as they are not always comfortable sharing. But if you create an environment where questions and concerns are welcomed, all will succeed."

I completely agree with everything she shared.  I also plan on elaborating on some of the things she shared later on in this series.

To go along with these blog posts, I have created a guide.  This guide will be for sale in my TpT store.  It is currently $1.00 in my store!  If you purchase it now, you will be able to get all the updates for free just by downloading it again when I add tips to it.


You might be wondering why you should purchase it since I'll be listing the tips for free here.  Well, in addition to keeping all the tips together in a uniform guide, I will be creating printables that you can use with your own student teacher.  You won't be able to get those here on my blog.

Remember, the price will go up in 2 weeks when I post the next tip here on my blog!

Here's a guide for you so you can see when to expect the tips.



What other tips do you have for the preparing for a student teacher stage?


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