Feeling Happily Possessive --Cati

I’m about to sound selfish and like it’s all about “me”—but honestly, one of my favorite things about student teaching is feeling like these are my students, and we are together in my classroom. I feel like I have been given a huge, brightly wrapped, shiny present and get to open it every day all over again.

Part of the reason why I feel like these things are mine is because my cooperating teacher gave me three classes at once, my first full week as a student teacher, and started directing student questions to me and leaving the room sometimes. Students saw that overnight I had apparently become “their teacher.” My cooperating teacher was also absent for family reasons for three days in a row that first week. Students saw me running the show and a sub sitting in the back of the room. Yup, I’m their teacher.

And I simply adore being their teacher. It is amazing to me how quickly I have connected with these students. Having sat and observed them all year, for upwards of one hundred hours, and having taught them several lessons, I thought that I already “knew” them and had connected with them. But this feels entirely different… cracking up at the creative ways that they try to call me “Ms. Schwenkler” in Spanish (the last name is hard enough, and for Spanish II kiddos the “Ms.” part often comes out as “Mrs.” or even “Mr.”)… giving them pep talks about how they can do better on the next quiz… getting high-fives when I pass my boys in the hall.

Every time a student smiles at me, I feel my heart glowing, and when they laugh at me because they think I’m being “too enthusiastic” or laugh at my laugh because it sounds like a fire drill is about to start, I know I’m doing something right. I get to be “that” teacher who’s weird and quirky and hey, holds your attention as a result. Students keep looking at me funny as they get back quizzes and written work covered in red ink as I celebrate their progress, note their areas for improvement, and use some combination of exclamation points, stars, and smiley faces. Yes, that took me forever. No, I can’t imagine giving you back anything else.

I love feeling like a teacher. And while that means that I’m sick (I already had to stay home one day), and I’m starting to wonder what kind of mauve eyeshadow would best complement the growing circles under my eyes, it also means I get out of bed at 5 a.m. every day so, so happy to go in and interact with my students. I share Kyle’s surprise at how fun it is to work with ninth graders, having also thought that I would only want to work with the “older, motivated students.” My AP students are quiet and boring compared to my hilarious, endearing ninth and tenth graders who vary greatly in terms of achievement and motivation, but they all make my heart sing.

Bring on the Adventure -- Cati

When I think about starting to student teach, I feel a combination of curiosity, openness, and excitement. I am curious about both the big picture of what this will look like and the small. What will it be like to take over someone else's already established classroom? How do I initiate the many conversations that I need to have with my cooperating teacher about what tests to use, what pacing to use, what kinds of management policies to use? What will I do when students misbehave? Will the ones that misbehave when my cooperating teacher is teaching misbehave for me, too? What on earth will I wear on week 3 when my school-worthy wardrobe has run out, and will students notice if I just start again from day 1 and recycle everything from there?

I am open to what comes, in part because I know that I will never get the answers to these questions until I just "do it." I feel like this is the next part of this crazy, intriguing adventure called teaching, and it will evolve and unfold as it does. I'm feeling relaxed and open to what will come and I'm trying not to get caught up in the black hole of the unknown. So much is outside of my control! It's more fun to go in trustingly and remember that hey, I'll figure it out when I get there!

It's much more fun to look at what's exciting. I'm very excited to be at school, every day, for the full day, for ten weeks. I'm big on rhythms and this graduate program effectively precludes a rhythm to our days, as we juggle classes, observations and teaching, and in many cases jobs. I'm glad that I will get up at 5 a.m. every day, not necessarily because it will be at 5 a.m., but because it will be the same time every day. (An added benefit will be that I will show myself that I can get up at 5 a.m. every day.) I am excited to see that I can be a teacher! I look forward to the chance to continue building rapport with my students, to keep interacting with other teachers at school, and to try out ideas and practices we have learned about in classes. The long-standing divide between theory and practice is about to be overcome! That, following months of classes, is inherently exciting.

Bios of Some Amazing Teachers

Sam is teaching math to sixth graders. He is looking forward to the chance to consistently be in the classroom and see his long term goals and units come to life during student teaching.




Kare is teaching two blocks of Intensified English for tenth graders and one block of eleventh grade Advanced American Studies. She is looking forward to seeing her students everyday and interacting with them in a more direct manner. She hopes that teaching them everyday as compared to once or twice a week will help her develop a better rapport with them and allow her to better see their academic progress.


Beth is teaching chemistry to grades ten through 12. She is looking forward to spending every day with the students because chemistry students are awesome. She also looks forward to not having anymore graduate classes.



Eric is teaching 12th grade English. He is most looking forward to developing a consistent professional relationship with his students. He also wants to be a fixture in the classroom and he wants a more panoramic view of their learning as compared to the spot-visit view he has been receiving.



Cati is teaching Spanish II to 9th and 10th graders and AP Spanish to 11th and 12th graders. She is most looking forward to having a regular schedule of interacting and working with her students. She is also excited to continue teaching so she can grow more confident in her skills and more trusting in the workability of the best practices for foreign language instruction that she has been learning about this year. She is excited to be in school every day and to be on the same schedule as the students so through that continuity and regular interaction her rapport with students can grow to the point where she can learn how to best teach those particular students



Raggs is teaching the social studies portion of eleventh grade American Studies. He is looking forward to putting into practice the skills he has learned in a more direct and constant way in order to develop better relationships with his students. He is also excited to see if he will in fact enjoy teaching and helping students learn as much as he thinks he will based on his past experiences.




Amelia is teaching three regular English and one intensified English for seventh graders. She is most looking forward to working with her students because they are delightful.