Dear Non-Student Teachers,

I'm kinda growing tired of people just not quite getting what student teaching entails. To an outsider, a non-education major, student teaching means a semester of no classes and minimal work. It means that we get to work with kids all day and don't have papers and group projects like our peers who are taking classes may have to do. But it's quite the opposite.

Let me start off by saying that I'm not a complainer and this article isn't me playing my tiny violin. I'm simply writing to those who are confused on exactly what student teaching means. So maybe next time when a student teacher yawns a little or says he/she can't go with you because he/she has too much work to do, your response won't be, "but how much work do you actually have to do."

First of all, student teaching is practically a full-time job (except without the money). We arrive when the teachers arrive and leave when the teachers leave. Not to mention the days that turn into nights because of after school open houses, or meetings, or parent-teacher conferences (that we attend). Then after a day of standing all day in our flats when all we want is to pay someone to rub our feet, we have to create lesson plans. Not to mention we have to remember to eat and shower at some point.

But students teaching isn't all lesson plans and going to school. It involves requirements that vary from school to school and state certification assignments that we are responsible for on top of our school assignments.

As a student teacher, you accept that you'll see your friends a little less and have to drink coffee a little more in order to get by. But with all that being said, as much work as it is, I chose this path for a reason. I chose to go into the teaching profession because I want to work with children. I want to inspire children and help them understand different topics and see the lightbulb go off in their head once they grasp a concept. So in the end, it makes it all worth it. Just imagining my future classroom and what the future holds makes it worth it.

I hope after reading this you understand a bit more about your friends who are student teaching, and maybe next time you'll think twice about your response when questioning the amount of work they actually have to do. Because let me tell you, there is nothing worse than an over-stressed, over-tired, over-worked student teacher trying to share about their day and having to listen to someone give a comment that belittles what it is we do.

Sincerely,

A Student Teacher