Frequently Asked Questions
Cooperating Teachers: Vouchers
Maryville University School of Education says ‘thank you’ to our cooperating teachers by awarding a tuition voucher at the end of the student teaching experience. This voucher is good for one three credit hour master’s level course at Maryville (a value of $1200). The voucher is non-transferable and is valid for one year from the date of issue. Cooperating teachers will be responsible for paying the technology fee.
Having a problem? Arriving late, missing days…
Talking directly to the student teacher should always be your first response. Sometimes student teachers don’t realize the importance or consequences of their actions. Please contact the university supervisor as soon as you see that there are issues. It is essential the university supervisor be aware of and work with our student teachers to solve problems quickly or put together a plan of action. Student teachers need sufficient time to implement changes to their behavior, instruction, or other aspects of teaching before any further action can be taken. If necessary, we sometimes add additional time to student teaching, change placements, require an additional semester, or remove student teachers. These actions occur only after significant work with both the cooperating teacher and student teacher. Please let us know early about any concerns you have! Maryville uses a Problem Solving Protocol that should help all parties in solving problems between various parties; please make use of this if problems arise.
What if the supervisor isn’t coming in enough?
Contact the supervisor and request that they come in more often. You can also contact the School of Education at (314) 529-9486 and we will forward a message to the supervisor. If you feel this does not result in sufficient visits, please contact the Dean of the School of Education at 529-9466 or shausfather@maryville.edu.
Why do you take students out for seminar?
Our candidates benefit so much from the experiences, professional conversations and support they receive in the field while student teaching; we realize that. We also need, however, for them to come together as a cohort to reexamine and dialogue about issues like student assessment, classroom management, differentiation, relationship building, and professionalism (which includes resume building and job search skills). Feedback suggests that candidates find this time to share highly beneficial. We’ve attempted every possible time frame for this important seminar and found the best to be one early afternoon per week. Seminar attendance is required.
Am I supposed to write a letter of recommendation for my student teacher?
You are not required to write a letter of recommendation but clearly your recommendation is probably the most important one when student teachers are seeking their first teaching position. We encourage you to write an honest and complete recommendation that will help the student teacher procure a position fit for their abilities.
Substitute Teaching in my class? Why not?
Maryville student teachers are not to be used as a substitute teacher for an absent teacher. Our students are not yet certified teachers and do not have the liability protection nor credentials to act as the teacher of record. Student teaching is a learning experience to be closely supervised by a master teacher. While students should have opportunities to be fully in charge of the classroom, they should always have a teacher of record close by in case of emergency situations.
Why is there an August Experience?
Can you imagine starting your first teaching position and not having experienced the annual back-to-school activities and all that goes into preparing for your pupils? If you are hosting a spring student teacher, they need to participate in ‘August Experience’ to get a feel for what is expected when preparing for the academic year. This entails 30 clock hours of back-to-school activities with you in your classroom to give them a feel for what it will be like when they begin their career and prepare for their own classroom. In a nutshell, they should help you set up your classroom, attend any meetings you feel are important for them to experience and then spend the remainder of time getting to know the students. This schedule would be worked out between you and our student and it would not be supervised. Click here for our August Experience flyer.