Yes, I agree about the student teachers being paid issue. What I'd also like to point out is that while student teaching, we also pay for the college credits to be doing so. Thus, we are paying to have a full time job. Kind of a raw deal.
I have worked this summer to save up enough money to live off of during my semester of student teaching - I am living at home but will still have to buy gas, go out with friends, etc.
An update on my student teaching situation: I spoke with my cooperating teacher last week and she was so NICE to me, which was a welcome change from the first time we met. She told me all about her lesson plans for the first 6 weeks, what she would like me to contribute, etc. and it all sounds completely manageable. She was impressed that I've read all the material on both classes syllabi over the summer.
So now I'm much more psyched. I think when I met with her before it was near the end of the year and she was probably stressed. Now she seems really excited to have me in her classroom.
And, I get to go to teacher orientation day on Thursday! I'm super excited. Also, my college requires us to do 20 hours of outside the classroom school involvement (helping with parent teacher conferences, chaperoning dances, etc.). I've spoken with the cheerleading coach about helping with the team (since coaching is what I do outside of teaching!) and I'm really psyched about that too.
Quick question: Aside from student teaching, I will be keeping 2 hours each week working at my gymnastics center coaching. It's just one night each week, and I think it'll be a nice break from teacher responsibilities on Tuesday evenings.
Do you all think that this will be manageable?