College of Education Information & Resources for Mentor Teachers: Experiences in Which Pacific University Student Teachers Need Familiarity
- School policies and procedures: Share school policies regarding expectations for staff such as duty hours, appropriate dress, classroom management, etc. Share policies and procedures for student dress, student attendance, food or beverage in the classroom, hall passes, bathroom passes, disruptive student behavior, student homework, etc.
- Budget: Discuss the budget that teachers personally have to work with. Our teacher candidates need to have an understanding of what is provided by the district and what they will need to provide themselves.
- Department chair meeting (at secondary level): Encourage your student teacher to attend a department chair meeting. It is important for them to learn the role of department chairs, how decisions are made, and how those decisions impact teaching and learning.
- Instructional strategies: Share your most effective instructional strategies with your student teacher and encourage them to share instructional strategies with you. Please remember that we want them to develop their own style.
- IEP: Please provide an opportunity for your student teacher to visit the special education teacher and become familiar with an IEP form. If possible, we would like them to attend at least one IEP meeting.
- Classroom environment: Help your student teacher create a classroom environment that is conducive to a variety of learning styles and multiple intelligences. Talk to them about considerations you take into account when setting up the room at the beginnning of the year.
- Monitor and adjust: Model and explain how to monitor and adjust whenever possible. Explain to our teacher candidates how and why you make decisions during instruction. Model self-reflection after instruction.
- Unit development: Your student teacher has or will create a work sample to teach. Involve them in other unit development, if appropriate.
- Assessment development: Encourage your student teacher to develop a variety of assessments for student learning. This is one the most difficult skill sets to replicate out of the classroom. Students need practice writing a variety of teast and developing and using checklists and rubrics.
- Staff meetings: Student teachers are required to attend staff meetings to learn about the dynamics of schools. In addition, they will have an opportunity to find out about important school and staff issues.
- Extra-curricular events: Encourage our teaching candidates to attend extra-curricular events. If an event isn't required for teachers, but you think it would be important for our candidate to be there, please tell them.
- Contribute to school/department: Encourage your student teacher to contribute to the school or department. We certainly don't want our candidates neglecting their duties with you, but creating bulletin boards or displays, assisting other teachers with special projects, helping with student council or other student organizations, or helping with a school musical would be a benefit to them as they learn what it entails to be a professional.