Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Designing your Teaching Life: What Student Teachers Should Know about Classrooms Today

Designing your Teaching Life is written for student teachers and their program-based mentors. This book provides engaging and detailed guidance for making the most out of the student teaching experience and overcoming the stressful situations and challenges that can arise during student teaching in today's fast-paced, diverse, and evidence-based classrooms. Designing your Teaching Life supports the student teacher to organize his/her experience, build positive relationships with mentors and students, design high quality plans and instruction, and use assessment data to inform teaching and learning. Filled with narratives, snapshots, examples, questions, templates, and advice from program and school-based mentors as well as former student teachers, the book will support student teachers working in a range of classrooms, including physical education. In addition, advice about the edTPA is woven throughout the chapters to support student teachers preparing for this assessment. Reading this book will provide the student teacher the guidance he or she needs to design a rewarding and successful teaching life. Review As a Physical Education cooperating teacher, I found Designing your teaching life to be excellent preparation for student teachers. It clearly details what is expected in the career of everyday teaching. It is an amazing piece of literature.--Josephine Nasta, PE teacher and administrator, New York City Department of Education Designing Your Teaching Life is a user friendly guide for candidates who are compiling their edTPA portfolios. Candidates will benefit greatly from clear explanations, checklists and visuals, which will build their confidence when submitting the edTPA and student teaching. This book will also be an excellent resource for faculty that are responsible for preparing teacher candidates.--Zena Cooper, EdD, York College, City University of New York Learning to teach is a life-long process, because as Lahey shows us, teaching is a very complex and creative endeavor. Breaking down this multifaceted act into the steps and considerations at every stage, from entering the culture of a classroom to understanding the numerous aspects of lesson planning, Designing Your Teaching Life will serve as an invaluable guide for the person just entering this exciting and rewarding profession.--Randi Dickson, EdD, Teachers College, Columbia University Reading this book feels like a thoughtful and reflective conversation with caring mentor teacher. Every teacher candidate/student teacher will greatly benefit from the book's detailed and caring advice. This book provides much of the "hidden curriculum" that is assumed all student teachers must know to be successful.--Stacie Erdahl, Cooperating Teacher, West Linn-Wilsonville School District, Oregon This book is so useful for preparing student teachers. As an administrator, I strongly recommend reading this book prior to taking a single education course. The author's experience working with many student teachers over the years really comes through.--Yegzeru Amare, Elementary School Administrator, New York City Department of Education This is a book every aspiring teacher will want to have. It is a great companion for those preparing to begin their student teaching experience, as well as those preparing to enter their own classroom.--Tanya Wiggins, EdD, Pace University About the Author Trace Lahey worked with student teachers for many years in both elementary and secondary contexts in her capacity as a teacher, administrator, and student teaching seminar instructor. At present, Trace serves as a teacher educator and educational researcher, teaching methods courses and continuing to work closely with student teachers.