Why do we require teacher candidates to spend 8-16 weeks in another teacher’s classroom? Perhaps you believe that it is so they can observe a master teacher and learn what they do to create effective instruction.  Or maybe, you believe that they need the chance to try things out with real students and find out who they will be as a teacher.  How you conceptualize the purpose of student teaching will guide the experiences that you create for your student teacher. It will also help you to craft the relationship you have with your student teacher. It might be helpful for the student teacher to know your beliefs regarding student teaching. The next three questions may help you to further clarify your beliefs.

These three questions ask you to delve into the triadic relationship between the student teacher, the cooperating teacher and the university supervisor. Maybe you feel that the cooperating teacher is the lead person with the supervisor as a “helpline” when needed, who also does the university required observations. Or it could be that you view the student teacher and cooperating teacher as a “team-teaching” relationship and the university supervisor is a consultant who can help advise the relationship.  Your understanding of your philosophy regarding these relationships will impact your expectations for each role.

Most, if not all, music educators have a philosophy about why they teach music, what they feel is important to teach and which students should learn music. Many have not specifically thought about it or put it on paper, but they certainly have thoughts about it. The student teacher you are about to host also has thoughts on this.  Your relationship with your student teacher will be shaped by the interaction of these philosophies.  Taking the time to think about this question will help you to be able to have an open conversation with your student teacher about your philosophy.

Will you have your student teacher share your desk or will you give them a desk of their own? If you give them a desk of their own, will it be a repurposed student desk or something larger. Consider this, if you require them to share your desk, you will have to give up your own organizational system to accommodate them. You may also convey the message, “You are a guest in my space and do not warrant a space of your own.” If you give them a student desk, you are acknowledging that they deserve their own space, but they are still a student, and not equal to you. Lastly, if you provide them with a separate space that is large enough for them to reasonably work from (you don’t have to give them an enormous space, just comparable), you are signaling that you view them as a colleague who has equal claim to the educational space.

Over the course of 8 weeks (or 16 in the case of a full placement), your student teacher will be developing curriculum, teaching class, creating/grading assignments, and many other tasks that may generate paperwork. In order to help them to develop the organizational skills that are necessary to effective teaching, it might help them to have filing cabinet space to work with. This also represents another way that you can communicate to your student teacher and students that the student teacher is an equal colleague.

Computers and technology are an ever-present reality in education.  Your student teacher will likely have work to be completed for instruction that requires the use of, at the very least, the internet. While it is a short-term consideration, you should have a conversation with your IT department to determine if the student teacher will get their own access, have guest access, or will be responsible for procuring their own internet access. From a sharing standpoint, it might also be wise to create a shared drive (e.g. GoogleDrive) so that you can work on documents together.  It is also likely that your student teacher will have to print and photocopy materials.  What is your district’s protocol for printer/copier access? How will you enable your student teacher to have access to these services?

Many school districts have implemented “Single-point-of-entry” protocols.  District personnel often have to possess photo ID badges that are used to access the building and sometimes, the classroom.  What steps will you need to take to make sure your student teacher has access to the spaces they need to work in?  This is different for each district, but it is important that you work out these needs prior to your student teacher’s arrival. It will also be important to communicate the expectations to your student teacher before they arrive for the first time.

It is not uncommon for districts to require every adult who comes in contact with students to be board approved. Depending on the board meeting schedule in your district, this can take several weeks to several months. Make sure to touch base with your administration long before your student teacher arrives to make certain that they have the appropriate board approvals before they begin interacting with your students.

When the student teacher starts working in your classroom everyday, you will need to make a decision about how long they will be just observing. How long do you think they need to watch what goes on in your daily routine before you start asking them to take on responsibilities? There is no single correct answer to this question.  You might consider how different your classroom is from day to day.  Do you have the same types of classes every day?  Do you travel?  Do you have different grade levels every day?  Are you on a multi-day cycle (e.g., A/B day, block scheduling)? How long will it take for the student teacher to observe all of the different tasks you have to navigate in a week? It might help you to take a moment to map out your schedule.  You are very familiar with your schedule because you live it everyday, but how will it look for someone who has never seen it.  How would you explain it to a long-term substitute teacher?

Once you determine how long you want the student teacher to just observe, you will need to figure out what you want them to observe.  What things do you feel are most important for them to focus on? It might be helpful to plan in periods where you and your student teacher talk about what they are observing.  What things are standing out to them?  Are there things that you think they need to focus on more after they have observed? How will their observations help to prepare them to begin taking on responsibility in the classroom?

Another thing to consider is, do you want them to only observe you? While they will be functioning primarily in your classroom, there may be other teachers from whom they could learn valuable lessons.  Perhaps there is another music teacher in your building or district that might provide them with a valuable perspective.  Or maybe there is a colleague in a nearby district.  There might even be a non-music colleague who has a unique way of effectively reaching students. What kinds of experiences can you provide your student teacher in the early stage of student teaching that will foster additional growth?

While your student teacher can learn a lot from observing your classroom (and others), the purpose of student teaching is to give them practical experience in being a teacher.  This means that you will need to have a plan for transitioning some of your teaching responsibilities to the student teacher (with the goal of them eventually doing everything for a couple of weeks). In order to allow you and your student teacher to most effectively prepare, you should have a plan before they arrive about how the transition will take place. It will be important to answer questions such as:

• When will they start to take on responsibilities?
• What responsibilities will they start with (teaching and/or non-teaching)?
• When will they take on full classes?
• When will they teach the whole day?
• Will I give them parts of units or an entire unit of their own?
• If I teach an ensemble, do they get to teach their own piece they select or will they work on music I have selected?

The answers to these questions will help to determine how the student teacher plans their experience. It might even benefit you to have this written down before the student teacher arrives and you can approach it as a “contract” so that both of you have a clear understanding of what is expected.  The clearer the expectations from the beginning, the more positive the student teaching is likely to be...for both of you!

There should come a point in the student teaching experience when you, the cooperating teacher, are just “along for the ride.” It is that point when the student teacher has the opportunity to teach your entire day. After all, there is no way to truly understand how rigorous a full teaching day is, until they have gone through 6 class periods, with only a 3 minute break between as classes change, 30 minutes (or less) for lunch plus whatever non-teaching duties you also have to complete. At this point, it is your job to observe them, offer counsel, provide feedback and act as a mentor as they try out their “sea legs.”

Your transition plan should provide a clear point when the student teacher will have to run your full schedule.  This can be the most challenging point for many cooperating teachers.  At some level, it means giving up almost total control of your classroom to someone else, but it can also be very informative.  You get an opportunity to see how you students react to this other educator.  You may even learn a few things.  It is also important to make sure that as you are moving through the transition phase to the full responsibility phase that you are making it clear to your students that your student teacher is another teacher and should be accorded the same respect as you.  If you make this distinction clear from the start of student teaching, it will help make the transition to full responsibility smoother from a classroom control perspective (that is assuming the student teacher has developed effective classroom management strategies).

A final thought about your preparations for your student teacher. Each district can be a little different on the amount of independent responsibility a non-certified teacher and/or student teacher can have in the classroom. Check with your district to determine if you can leave your student teacher alone in the room with students without a district-appointed, certified teacher.  If you are not allowed to do so, consider talking to  non-music colleagues and offering to cover a duty or their classroom so they can be in the room while your student teacher teaches. This will still allow your student teacher to feel they are in complete control without you watching over them.