By Kay,* a Student Teacher and MENC Collegiate Member

I had been counting down the days until my student teaching experience at least since my junior year of college. I talked to all the “right” people, made all of the “right” decisions, and somehow managed to find myself miserable and in tears by the end of my second week of student teaching. I have always considered myself to be a fairly secure person and for the first time in my life, I felt like my confidence was completely shattered.

Before my student teaching, I would have to say that I have had very positive experiences with my other mentor teachers. They were all helpful in strengthening my skills as a new teacher and always were sure to praise me for anything promising I did from the podium.

Things seemed fine my first day or two with Helen.* She complemented me on my reputation a few times and talked about how excited she was to have me as her student teacher. However, I felt completely abandoned and betrayed by my second time working with one of her beginning strings ensembles. I experienced a few behavior problems and quickly implemented the behavior plan she encouraged me to utilize. I got as far as assigning a 40 minute lunch detention to two of the students without the kids batting an eyelash. At the word, “suspension,” her ears perked up and she stopped me in the middle of class. She then proceeded to undo any punishments I had assigned.

Lessons to follow involved her interjecting her own opinions in the middle of my sequences. Nothing I did ever was acceptable. Even when the students displayed perfect behavior and I was following my pre-approved lesson plan, she would begin teaching from the back of the classroom. My “teacher toes” were constantly being stepped on, specific feedback was rarely given, and positive reinforcement was something I could only dream of.

It took over a month for me to realize that in spite of how harsh she seemed to be on me, she really did have a high opinion of my teaching. Our personalities simply did not line up, especially from my point of view. Even after several requests for her to be specific in what she liked and didn’t like, I left most discussions feeling unfulfilled. I felt that unless I could become her, that it was impossible to satisfy her.

To be honest, I was never able to get to a point where I was completely happy with her as a mentor. However, my experience with her taught me that I must be strong enough to see my strengths and weaknesses as a teacher, among other things. I also was reminded of the fact that student teaching is not about becoming a mentor teacher’s clone, but rather to embrace (and modify) the person that already exists to best serve the students’ needs.

*Names have been changed.

Read Part 2 of this series for tips on dealing with difficult mentor teachers!

Hear more from Kay next month on the Future Teachers section.

Reported to Anne Wagener, April 14, 2008, © MENC: The National Association for Music Education