|
So, you are approaching your senior year in college.
You have finally completed most of the courses required for
your major as well as the majority of your education classes
and it is time to plan for your student teaching. What can you
do to help make your student teaching experience a
success? Here are some important matters to consider.
Planning for your student teaching experience should
begin as far in advance as possible. In fact, as soon as you
have decided that you might want to be a teacher, you
should begin preparing for your career by gaining as much
experience working with students as possible. Some of the
ways you can gain this valuable experience include tutoring,
teaching Sunday school, working as a camp counselor,
assisting scout troop leaders and coaches, and teaching
classes for local organizations such as libraries and
community centers. Also, try to arrange for as many field
experiences working in schools as part of your college
education. All of these activities will help you to find out what
it is really like to work with children and youth, and you will
experience what it takes to plan lessons and teach
successfully. Most importantly, these experiences will show
you whether or not you have what it takes to be a teacher
and if you really want to teach. Such information cannot be
gained by merely reading books about education and taking
classes. There are certain things which simply must be
experienced firsthand.
A year before student teaching, you will need to ramp
up your preparations. Start by learning everything that you
don't know about your computer and your access technology
which will enable you to produce professional looking print
handouts and other visuals which you will use in the
classroom. Consider learning PowerPoint which can be quite
useful for classroom presentations. Schedule extra time with
your college's audio/video specialist and gain as much
hands-on experience as possible with the equipment and
with using and producing audio/visual materials to
supplement the lessons you will teach. Order and examine
textbooks in accessible formats for the subjectggs) you will
be teaching.
Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic
has a plethora of recorded textbooks
for most subjects and grade levels.
Bookshare
also has
textbooks for students in grades K-12. However, as of this
writing, these books are only available to students in Grades
K-12 and not to regular Bookshare members. A new
resource for purchasing downloadable books including some
textbooks is
BLIO
which provides an accessible reading
software application and an online bookstore with thousands
of books. Also, start developing worksheets and
learning activities for later use. In short, do all that you can to
develop your materials, your skills and yourself as a teacher
as far in advance as possible.
Six months before student teaching, you will need to
start making specific arrangements for your practicum. First,
carefully choose the school in which you will work if your
college or university gives you a choice. Some students
prefer to work in their hometown school districts which gives
them the advantages of living at home during their student
teaching experience and working in a familiar school with
faculty that they know. This may not work out if the school is
too far from your college because it would be difficult for a
professor to observe you in the classroom. Generally, it's
usually best to choose a school which is close to your
college because it will be easier for you to travel to and from
the school each day and receive support from your college.
It is very important to choose a school with an open-minded
faculty who will be supportive of a student teacher who is
blind or visually impaired. Second, obtain and become
intimately familiar with the textbooks you will use in the
classroom. It is usually best to have your textbooks in
accessible hardcopy formats when teaching. So, be sure to
allow plenty of time for your books to be produced in braille
or large print if they are not already available to borrow or
purchase. A good resource for checking the availability of
textbooks is
The American Printing House for the Blind's Louis database.
Third, line up the people who
will help you during your student teaching experience.
Arrange for two or three readers who can help you correct
papers and complete other school related paperwork. Also,
you may need to arrange for a classroom aide to monitor
tests and help you with other tasks in the classroom. It is
best not to ask for help with classroom tasks from your
cooperating teacher because part of your job as a student
teacher will be proving that you will be able to work
independently as a teacher. Finally, plan your wardrobe
carefully. If you want to be taken seriously as a student
teacher, the casual dress of typical college students will not
be appropriate. Dressing professionally and conservatively
will command more respect from students and faculty and
will help you to behave more like a teacher. If necessary, ask
someone who is sighted for a second opinion on your wardrobe to insure that
you will be dressed appropriately.
About a month before your first day of student teaching,
make transportation arrangements and practice traveling to
and from the school a few times. Visit the school and
become very familiar with the building and classroom in
which you will be teaching. Get to know your cooperating
teacher, the principal, the office staff and all the other people
whom you will be working with at the school. Familiarize
yourself with the school's procedures and regulations and
the specific rules and procedures which govern the
classroom in which you will be working. Finally, clear your
calendar of extra-curricular activities and other time
commitments for the duration of your practicum. Student
teaching will be grueling and time consuming and doing it
successfully will require all of your attention, heart and soul.
As you can see, preparing for a successful student
teaching experience will be a lot of hard work, but all of your
work will be well worth the effort if you succeed as a student
teacher, earn your teaching certificate and are ultimately
hired as a teacher.
Top of Page
|