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My cooperating teacher leaves me alone with the kids for full periods. She says it's the only way I'll learn how to manage my own classroom. This is fine for the first two periods I teach, but the third is a disaster. The kids talk back horribly, and refuse to participate. If I demand quiet, they laugh and say that I'm not the real teacher. I feel like this is out of my hands...I've tried everything. I've assigned detentions (which they rarely show up for), I've spoken with problem kids after class, everything.

My question is: Is my cooperating teacher right? As the student teacher, I could balance balls on my head and these kids wouldn't care. When I'm an actual teacher, I will have more resources (parents, administration) that I can enforce. But for now, I feel like my cooperating teacher should be in the classroom with me, but she refuses.
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un-named On 4/02/10, bjkach wrote: > On 3/15/10, Sam wrote: >> My cooperating teacher leaves me alone with the kids for >> full periods. She says it's the only way I'll learn how to >> manage my own classroom. This is fine for the first two >> periods I teach, but the third is a disaster. The kids talk >> back horribly, and ...See More
Apr 3, 2010
DIVABubble On 4/02/10, bjkach wrote: > On 3/15/10, Sam wrote: >> My cooperating teacher leaves me alone with the kids for >> full periods. She says it's the only way I'll learn how to >> manage my own classroom. This is fine for the first two >> periods I teach, but the third is a disaster. The kids talk >> back horribly, and ...See More
Apr 3, 2010
East End Long Islander I do NOT think your cooperating teacher should leave you alone in the room, except for short periods to conduct other classroom related business (photocopying, meeting with parents or other staff) or, of course, if "nature" calls. She/he needs to be there to observe your work, make recommendations for improvement, and even, perhaps, to step in to h...See More
Apr 4, 2010
Not to mention... Student Teachers are not covered by insurance. Therefore, if a student is injured in class and there is no licensed, insured teacher present, then the school AND the ST can be easily sued.

My CTs gave me their classrooms right away. But, I insisted they not leave the room or go very far away from my classroom for this reason. I wasn't goin...See More
Apr 10, 2010
Judy2/CA As for the legality of being left in the room without the coop teacher, it depends on your state. Student teachers in CA already have their BA/BS and generally have a certificate that allows them to substitute teach. I don't know what the rules are in your state. But if you are having difficulty with the class and have asked your coop teacher to be...See More
Apr 13, 2010


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