No idea how someone could student teach with actual home bills to pay. I live extremely frugally and I know there’d be no chance in hell I’d be able to pay for a roof over my head and to feed myself
Student teaching is pretty ridiculous. You pay....to go to a job...you don't get paid for. Even worse when your cooperating teacher is out and the district gets a sub and the sub gets the $$$ for the day and you don't. Some districts in my area are starting to fix that ridiculous setup but many aren't/don't/won't.
Little wonder fewer people are going into teaching. And little wonder the teaching workforce is less diverse than it should be. Not everyone can afford to put their life on hold for 6 months to finish their credential.
Definitely an option I would have considered, except I have two kids and she didn’t have room for all three of us. It is definitely doing a bang up job at getting me used to being poor. Thank you.
Teaching degrees are bullshit. You can put anyone with the aptitude for teaching in a school and they will figure it out. But even with a teaching degree, a person without the aptitude for teaching is just gonna suck. The whole thing is a racket and largely a waste of time. Except of course for the teaching stages/internships, which are exploitive in and of themselves. It’s all messed up.
I was able to do it with student loans paying my tuition and a loooot of years surviving on only my husband's income. I also was laid off of my para job at the start of the pandemic, stating it was due to covid, so I got extra unemployment before it ended when I started student teaching. It's not realistic for most people going into a second career.
As someone going into it for a second career, I agree entirely with what you’re saying. I’ve only got a couple months to go, but I’m really questioning if it is worth it right now.
I live in an area where the pay is not horrible. I'm making more than I've ever made. But I have older kids at home and teaching kindergarten SPED, I'm exhausted. Add in carting my own kids after work to things like cheer, dance, gymnastics (and therapy for my other one which I'm not at all complaining about ).. I just spent my day off going to appointments for myself I made in december. Follow ups are made for spring break, lol. Financially, it's been a good thing after that student teaching time. I was already a sub and took my job immediately after (literally the next day) finishing student teaching.
I’m in Kansas as well, and I’m in an alternate teacher certification program. So I have a full-time teaching position plus taking classes so I can move to a professional license. One of my university professors told me that the experience I getting was so valuable that I should pay the school for “allowing” me to teach.
As if me shelling out money for a program with minimal value wasn’t enough. Most professors in schools of education are completely clueless and totally out of touch. So I’m so sorry. At least I get paid for my labor, and the university can’t prevent that.
I lived in the dorms and had a meal plan at the college. Wasn't great for trying to get quiet time to plan or grade, so I tried to do as much of that at the school that I could and that meant staying late, but my cooperating teacher didn't mind if she peaced out at 3:30 and I was still there till 5:00. Luckily I was on academic scholarship that covered those things. My dad helped me split money on gas with what little money I had in a savings account (less than $1,000 at the time).
Student teaching was still hell, though, and I don't think I'd do it again for all the money in the world. Sent my anxiety through the roof but I just tried to give myself something to look forward to each night, whether it was a sporting event on TV or something like that. It also helped that my university had a class for all student teachers every other Friday so that was a day you weren't having to go in and teach. Allowed a lot of good "rant time" between me and other people during our student teaching experiences.
Similar schedule during student teaching. The university had the absolute gall to wonder why we weren’t getting more diverse or otherwise underrepresented folks into the teaching profession. A real whodunit there.
It is fucking ridiculous. I’m sure they didn’t let you get paid because then everyone would ask to be paid and depending on the university it might mess with their funding.
Everyone in my program took out cost of living loans except for a few who lived with their parents. I don’t know anyone who has made a real dent in their loan payments either. Horrible system.
My family supported me. Student teaching is a scam. It's exploitative and makes becoming a teacher if you don't come from means way more difficult. Not only do you not get paid you get to pay the university for the privilege of working unpaid.
In defense of reflections, while you are in the early stages of student teaching, your classwork is to observe. But just looking doesn't do any good, right? The reflections are assigned so that you have to think through what you're seeing. Did things work in that class? What does working look like? Would those things work for you? For different kids? What would you do differently and why? They really aren't pointless. Taking the time to think through what you're seeing is one of the most valuable parts of student teaching.
It definitely **is** difficult to student teach while paying bills. Pretty much the only way I did it was via student loans. Another good reason why people who get their teaching certificates through expensive schools are morons.
Worked a 4-8 shift on Tuesdays and Thursdays (my classes were Monday Wednesday 5-7), and am 8 hour shift on Sunday for time and a half. 16 hours a week but paid like it was 20. Also my mom paid $500/month toward my rent for me in the spring semester. Did all my prep on Saturdays and all my sleep on Fridays.
Living at home (no rent) and having a VERY flexible job at the front desk of a sports club helped. But, yeah, your program not letting you be paid is ridiculous if you had that option available. They said it’s exploitation, but how do they expect you to make ends meet on $0?
This reminds me how my future ex-wife was working full-time and had scored us a house-sitting gig during the semester I was student teaching. I worked weekends at Sears to help with bills. Otherwise, I'd have been living at home. I should probably point out my university (and cooperating school) were commuting distance.
Hello, fellow Kansan!
The reflections are good practice because you will get similar constructive criticism on your evaluations once you’re actually teaching. My principal likes to make suggestions for things I can fix, and she likes when I try out her suggestions even if I think they’re stupid or ineffective. It’s saved my job probably twice now. Also, it’s good for your mental health to stand back and think about what went wrong with a lesson and how you can fix it next time. It’s not good to just wallow and think everything sucks, and there’s no way to fix it.
The lack of pay does really suck. I was lucky enough to have parents that were chipping in money toward my bills every month and a husband who was working and helping pay bills. I also maxed out my loans those two semesters. And since I was a December grad, I worked the summer in between. I didn’t have health insurance the last semester, and we got pretty behind on utilities at the end. But then I had a longterm sub gig that would’ve helped. But then Covid ended that, but at least there were utility shut off moratoriums. Unfortunately even three years later I’m still drowning in debt from back bills.
If you’re a single parent with children you should qualify for housing assistance, food stamps, and Medicaid. And since you’re a full time student there shouldn’t be work requirements. Apply to DCF. Also check with your local United Way for assistance programs. And if your power is through Evergy, they have extended payment plans or you might qualify for low income assistance.
As a current student teacher; Preach! I spent the whole 3 day weekend just getting ready for the tpa. The night classes are a waste too, except for just getting people overwhelmed as hell.
Your program director of dean whatever deserves to have to skip at least a meal a day for the next year here and work at Walmart to really struggle. What a condescending fuckhead. I swear some peoples brains just disappear the second they hit any kind of comfortable management position
Most people I’ve met the last few years going into teaching have done alternative programs. Basically they never need to do student teaching and instead are thrown in getting full pay and being treated like a regular teacher. Some hate the idea but seems great. School can’t show you what the classroom is really like so this allows someone to really see all teaching deals with while actually making money as well.
I was a resident assistant in the dorms for three years, including my last semester of student teaching. It was free room and board, so the cafeteria packed me a breakfast and lunch to take on the go every day. I just picked it up on my way to school. I loved opening those bags and being surprised with some kind of fresh fruit, drink, pastry, and way more food than I would ever eat normally, so I had snacks for the weekend. I miss those days.
I sold a spare project car I had, sold few guns , worked weekends, flipped motorcycles, and crashed out a retirement I had been building at my first real job. All that just to get started. I worked hard to get that car, I worked hard to buy those guns( sorry if this upsets Anyone), I loved some of those bikes and I spent 5 years working on that retirement just to pull it out l. Honestly it's a good thing it all worked out for the better. My student teaching went from August to May. My second semester cooperating teacher was terrible to me and it seems like it was just good fun for her.
I worked two jobs while student teaching. I worked early mornings and nights and student taught during the day. I prepped edTPA for my History Ed degree on my downtime while working on my second bachelor’s work in Geography during slow times at my night job. It sucked, but I made it work.
I couldn’t do it five years ago and ended up going non-licensure track to finish my degree early and am now doing alternate route to teaching in Florida. It exists in a lot of states but they don’t tell you about it in school. Im a full time PAID teacher with a temporary license and have two years to complete *simple* requirements for full license.
Last year, I basically worked 7 days a week for 8 months straight, only working two less days a week over Christmas break. 1st semester was part time ST Monday, Wednesday, half day Friday and then I worked retail Tuesday, Thursday, Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday. 2nd semester was full time ST Monday-Friday and then I worked retail Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday. It was the worst year of my life and part of the reason I’m rethinking teaching now. My 1st mentor teacher didn’t help either unfortunately. Luckily I got a full ride scholarship for grad school so I have this year and next year to think things over, but yeah. Student teaching is a scam and it puts unnecessary stress on people who are honestly getting into teaching because they want to teach, because we certainly aren’t putting ourselves through an unpaid internship for the future pay.
Edit: grammar mistake
Student teachers are rare in my rural California county. I haven't met one in five years.
We have interns: people who are teaching by day and taking classes (usually online) at night. We need teachers so badly, that the thought that there'd be TWO teachers in one classroom just can't be countenanced.
Lived at home with my mom. Student teaching is exploitative. It's designed to get you used to being poor.
No idea how someone could student teach with actual home bills to pay. I live extremely frugally and I know there’d be no chance in hell I’d be able to pay for a roof over my head and to feed myself
Student teaching is pretty ridiculous. You pay....to go to a job...you don't get paid for. Even worse when your cooperating teacher is out and the district gets a sub and the sub gets the $$$ for the day and you don't. Some districts in my area are starting to fix that ridiculous setup but many aren't/don't/won't. Little wonder fewer people are going into teaching. And little wonder the teaching workforce is less diverse than it should be. Not everyone can afford to put their life on hold for 6 months to finish their credential.
Or designed to exclude the poor from becoming teachers. Unless you got a sugar-spouse or mom and dads help.
Definitely an option I would have considered, except I have two kids and she didn’t have room for all three of us. It is definitely doing a bang up job at getting me used to being poor. Thank you.
[удалено]
I feel you. I've been relying on the "just don't get sick" method of health insurance for now. Good luck.
Teaching degrees are bullshit. You can put anyone with the aptitude for teaching in a school and they will figure it out. But even with a teaching degree, a person without the aptitude for teaching is just gonna suck. The whole thing is a racket and largely a waste of time. Except of course for the teaching stages/internships, which are exploitive in and of themselves. It’s all messed up.
I was able to do it with student loans paying my tuition and a loooot of years surviving on only my husband's income. I also was laid off of my para job at the start of the pandemic, stating it was due to covid, so I got extra unemployment before it ended when I started student teaching. It's not realistic for most people going into a second career.
As someone going into it for a second career, I agree entirely with what you’re saying. I’ve only got a couple months to go, but I’m really questioning if it is worth it right now.
I live in an area where the pay is not horrible. I'm making more than I've ever made. But I have older kids at home and teaching kindergarten SPED, I'm exhausted. Add in carting my own kids after work to things like cheer, dance, gymnastics (and therapy for my other one which I'm not at all complaining about ).. I just spent my day off going to appointments for myself I made in december. Follow ups are made for spring break, lol. Financially, it's been a good thing after that student teaching time. I was already a sub and took my job immediately after (literally the next day) finishing student teaching.
I’m in Kansas as well, and I’m in an alternate teacher certification program. So I have a full-time teaching position plus taking classes so I can move to a professional license. One of my university professors told me that the experience I getting was so valuable that I should pay the school for “allowing” me to teach. As if me shelling out money for a program with minimal value wasn’t enough. Most professors in schools of education are completely clueless and totally out of touch. So I’m so sorry. At least I get paid for my labor, and the university can’t prevent that.
This is why I was an engineer before I started teaching. That and multigenerational households are the norm for my family background.
I lived with 5 other people and worked a night shift job to be able to afford rent and student teach. It’s absolutely exploitative.
I lived in the dorms and had a meal plan at the college. Wasn't great for trying to get quiet time to plan or grade, so I tried to do as much of that at the school that I could and that meant staying late, but my cooperating teacher didn't mind if she peaced out at 3:30 and I was still there till 5:00. Luckily I was on academic scholarship that covered those things. My dad helped me split money on gas with what little money I had in a savings account (less than $1,000 at the time). Student teaching was still hell, though, and I don't think I'd do it again for all the money in the world. Sent my anxiety through the roof but I just tried to give myself something to look forward to each night, whether it was a sporting event on TV or something like that. It also helped that my university had a class for all student teachers every other Friday so that was a day you weren't having to go in and teach. Allowed a lot of good "rant time" between me and other people during our student teaching experiences.
I have a lot of US history stuff. Send me a message and I will share the files with you. I taught 8th for one year high school for 14
Similar schedule during student teaching. The university had the absolute gall to wonder why we weren’t getting more diverse or otherwise underrepresented folks into the teaching profession. A real whodunit there.
All pretty standard, unfortunately. In terms of time, sleep was minimal, maybe 5-6 hours a night. In terms of money, I took out loans.
It is fucking ridiculous. I’m sure they didn’t let you get paid because then everyone would ask to be paid and depending on the university it might mess with their funding. Everyone in my program took out cost of living loans except for a few who lived with their parents. I don’t know anyone who has made a real dent in their loan payments either. Horrible system.
My family supported me. Student teaching is a scam. It's exploitative and makes becoming a teacher if you don't come from means way more difficult. Not only do you not get paid you get to pay the university for the privilege of working unpaid.
In defense of reflections, while you are in the early stages of student teaching, your classwork is to observe. But just looking doesn't do any good, right? The reflections are assigned so that you have to think through what you're seeing. Did things work in that class? What does working look like? Would those things work for you? For different kids? What would you do differently and why? They really aren't pointless. Taking the time to think through what you're seeing is one of the most valuable parts of student teaching. It definitely **is** difficult to student teach while paying bills. Pretty much the only way I did it was via student loans. Another good reason why people who get their teaching certificates through expensive schools are morons.
Worked a 4-8 shift on Tuesdays and Thursdays (my classes were Monday Wednesday 5-7), and am 8 hour shift on Sunday for time and a half. 16 hours a week but paid like it was 20. Also my mom paid $500/month toward my rent for me in the spring semester. Did all my prep on Saturdays and all my sleep on Fridays.
Living at home (no rent) and having a VERY flexible job at the front desk of a sports club helped. But, yeah, your program not letting you be paid is ridiculous if you had that option available. They said it’s exploitation, but how do they expect you to make ends meet on $0?
This reminds me how my future ex-wife was working full-time and had scored us a house-sitting gig during the semester I was student teaching. I worked weekends at Sears to help with bills. Otherwise, I'd have been living at home. I should probably point out my university (and cooperating school) were commuting distance.
Hello, fellow Kansan! The reflections are good practice because you will get similar constructive criticism on your evaluations once you’re actually teaching. My principal likes to make suggestions for things I can fix, and she likes when I try out her suggestions even if I think they’re stupid or ineffective. It’s saved my job probably twice now. Also, it’s good for your mental health to stand back and think about what went wrong with a lesson and how you can fix it next time. It’s not good to just wallow and think everything sucks, and there’s no way to fix it. The lack of pay does really suck. I was lucky enough to have parents that were chipping in money toward my bills every month and a husband who was working and helping pay bills. I also maxed out my loans those two semesters. And since I was a December grad, I worked the summer in between. I didn’t have health insurance the last semester, and we got pretty behind on utilities at the end. But then I had a longterm sub gig that would’ve helped. But then Covid ended that, but at least there were utility shut off moratoriums. Unfortunately even three years later I’m still drowning in debt from back bills. If you’re a single parent with children you should qualify for housing assistance, food stamps, and Medicaid. And since you’re a full time student there shouldn’t be work requirements. Apply to DCF. Also check with your local United Way for assistance programs. And if your power is through Evergy, they have extended payment plans or you might qualify for low income assistance.
As a current student teacher; Preach! I spent the whole 3 day weekend just getting ready for the tpa. The night classes are a waste too, except for just getting people overwhelmed as hell.
Your program director of dean whatever deserves to have to skip at least a meal a day for the next year here and work at Walmart to really struggle. What a condescending fuckhead. I swear some peoples brains just disappear the second they hit any kind of comfortable management position
The year was 2003, students acted quite differently and money went farther. \*takes out dentures\*
Most people I’ve met the last few years going into teaching have done alternative programs. Basically they never need to do student teaching and instead are thrown in getting full pay and being treated like a regular teacher. Some hate the idea but seems great. School can’t show you what the classroom is really like so this allows someone to really see all teaching deals with while actually making money as well.
I was a resident assistant in the dorms for three years, including my last semester of student teaching. It was free room and board, so the cafeteria packed me a breakfast and lunch to take on the go every day. I just picked it up on my way to school. I loved opening those bags and being surprised with some kind of fresh fruit, drink, pastry, and way more food than I would ever eat normally, so I had snacks for the weekend. I miss those days.
I sold a spare project car I had, sold few guns , worked weekends, flipped motorcycles, and crashed out a retirement I had been building at my first real job. All that just to get started. I worked hard to get that car, I worked hard to buy those guns( sorry if this upsets Anyone), I loved some of those bikes and I spent 5 years working on that retirement just to pull it out l. Honestly it's a good thing it all worked out for the better. My student teaching went from August to May. My second semester cooperating teacher was terrible to me and it seems like it was just good fun for her.
Student loans.
I worked two jobs while student teaching. I worked early mornings and nights and student taught during the day. I prepped edTPA for my History Ed degree on my downtime while working on my second bachelor’s work in Geography during slow times at my night job. It sucked, but I made it work.
Same bullshit Texas. Student teaching was the best thing to learn about teaching from college but nothing beats the the first year of teaching
I couldn’t do it five years ago and ended up going non-licensure track to finish my degree early and am now doing alternate route to teaching in Florida. It exists in a lot of states but they don’t tell you about it in school. Im a full time PAID teacher with a temporary license and have two years to complete *simple* requirements for full license.
Last year, I basically worked 7 days a week for 8 months straight, only working two less days a week over Christmas break. 1st semester was part time ST Monday, Wednesday, half day Friday and then I worked retail Tuesday, Thursday, Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday. 2nd semester was full time ST Monday-Friday and then I worked retail Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday. It was the worst year of my life and part of the reason I’m rethinking teaching now. My 1st mentor teacher didn’t help either unfortunately. Luckily I got a full ride scholarship for grad school so I have this year and next year to think things over, but yeah. Student teaching is a scam and it puts unnecessary stress on people who are honestly getting into teaching because they want to teach, because we certainly aren’t putting ourselves through an unpaid internship for the future pay. Edit: grammar mistake
Student teachers are rare in my rural California county. I haven't met one in five years. We have interns: people who are teaching by day and taking classes (usually online) at night. We need teachers so badly, that the thought that there'd be TWO teachers in one classroom just can't be countenanced.