14 years ago I did student teaching at my alma mater. My
CT, like many others written about on this board, seemed
to hate me, resent my presence and did little to help me.
Although she definitely had a difficult personality IMO, I
was ready to take some ownership of our problems. Part of
our difficulties was that we were mismatched with very
different styles, for example, and I admit I didn't do a
perfect job (I did pass the course).
Last week I had an interview at this school. The super
asked me if I did ST, I said yes, gave the woman's name
and said it was a good experience. (Lie--but what else
could I say?)The super said "Hmm--very interesting. Then
we went to the department chair's office, and I was left
in a front office with the secretary. The super went in
the back office to talk to the dept. chair.
I heard a familiar voice say "No, she was my student
teacher." It was her! I figured I would be taken back
there to shake her hand and reminisce. I thought of nice
things I could say to her.
Suddenly, the dept. chair said "I can't use my office." We
walked back to a conference room I had just come from. He
asked me a couple of questions, then said that they didn't
really have an opening, they just ran two ads in case they
got one if someone retired. Huh? I never did say hello to
my old CT.
2 things I learned:
Do not do student teaching where you would like to teach.,
If it doesn't go well, you will not be hired by that
district, even if you have many years of experience and
excellent references elsewhere. None of that counts. Three
months in college does.
If your CT is a beast--it may not be your fault. Any guilt
or low self-esteen I felt as a result of my ST is now
gone. I now think my CT is of poor character. I am 39
years old and she is about 56-58. If she cannot say hello
to me, if she is still holding a grudge because of
something she got mad at me for years ago, she is not a
good person, period.
For the record: Her main complaints were that I allowed
students to keep projects in a back room where her tests
were kept and believed that some were stolen, (I do not
believe they were, the kids were not back there long
enough to go rifling thru file cabinets)and that I allowed
an honors student to re-do a paper so he wouldn't get a 33
on it ( felt sorry for him, he clearly didn't understand
the assignment)The paper counted for about 1/5 of 15% of
his grade. She screamed at me for breaking her "not
allowing re-do's, then allowed her doctor's receptionist's
daughter to take a test that counted for a lot more.
1996 - 2008. All Rights Reserved. Please review our