NWR: Student Teaching and Wedding Planning

You will be exhausted. I'm sorry to be the one tell you this, but I survived 2 semesters of student teaching (what up Spec Ed degree!) and it can be done. Always dedicate some time for yourself and be selfish about that time, sleep in or get your nails done, it's important! While at school fully engage in school, try to not weddings plan there. When you are home be really careful about post school work and wedding work, set out blocks of time for each. Most important though, breathe. It goes fast, the kid work their way into your heart, and it will be the most fun you've had. Good luck, you got this!

Student teaching was exhausting but wonderful. Good luck!

I don't know if you can ever really mentally or emotionally prepare yourself for it beyond what you've learned.

My best advice is to make sure you leave time for you. Still go to the gym, still watch your favorite shows, etc. Teaching can so easily consume your life if you don't intentionally walk away from it a little bit every day.

My other advice is that if your program has you fill out an application that they send out to schools, and then schools pick their student teachers, take it as seriously as you'd take a full-time job application. What school you get placed at, and what teacher you're with, has a huge impact on your experience. I don't regret obsessing over my application at all, I got placed with a coop who was a wonderful fit for me because my application was so thorough.

ETA; props to you for doing both. I'd make the best of your breaks for planning from here on out, your first year full-time teaching will be crazier than student teaching. I'm in my first year, and it has been every bit as tough as people warned me it would be.

I learned so much from student teaching 7-4 and then worked 5pm-9pm Monday-friday. I feel ya girl! Take in as much as you can get. Use it to get some connections. I wish I would have planned more with my collaborating teacher but know at the end of the say, you can only do so much. I still tell myself this in my 5th year. Good luck!

Student teaching is absolutely insane. I feel for you!!

My advice echos pp's above, with the added emphasis on put planning on hold. It's so much to focus on and deal with. Get all the big things taken care of before it starts, and then focus on student teaching!

You'll do great!! What ages/subjects are you teaching?

I am currently student teaching and planning my wedding for June. It's so stressful! It's also tough financially because FH's income is all we have coming in right now. We've had to cut our guest list some to afford the wedding we want. It's also stressful trying to plan the wedding while student teaching, taking my licensure tests, and applying for jobs. If I could go back, I would hold off on wedding planning until after student teaching.

Popping back in with my advice after spending an hour and a half lesson planning;

Steal as much as you can from your coop. Get copies of lesson plans, worksheets, readings, whatever you can get that you think is good and that you'd use. One of the hardest things first year is getting all your lesson materials, especially if you don't have an assigned curriculum or textbook. I just have a set of standards and a suggested timeline, I'm building a curriculum from nothing and it's a ton of work.

One of the biggest things about teaching is time management. You need to have time management for the classroom, and for outside the classroom. You have to be dedicated to what you are doing in the classroom, and make sure you spend enough time to do lesson planning, organizing and preparing your lessons. Then keep separate time for wedding planning. Get an organizer and manage your time wisely. You are not going to have a lot of free time to see friends and have fun. You just have to get use to it, and tough it out until you are done with student teaching.

I just finished student teaching a few months ago. My biggest advice is to stop listening to experienced teachers who insist you can't have a life and won't stop saying how stressful it is. IT IS stressful. I cried quite a few times. But you learn that for yourself. All of the well-meaning people trying to prepare me just caused anxiety and made me neglect my other responsibilities. It really made a difference for me when I took the attitude that yes, I can do this. I wasn't wedding planning, but I had just bought a house, gotten a dog, moved in with FH, and worked three nights a week. You need good time management, and don't underestimate how difficult it will be. But the one thing I wish I could have done differently would be to figure out my own life instead of adapting it to what everyone else suggested.

Edit: That was my kind of harsh way of saying you're going to be okay! You are prepared for this!

You will be exhausted. Plan on not really seeing friends or family for 4 months. I saw my FH and that was it. You really have to put your life aside until it's done. Financially, I saved as much as I could and then was really careful with money the whole time. I used all my savings. I also cooked a bunch of freezer meals in advance. That helped a ton. I wouldn't have been able to work a part time job, though. I did most of my schoolwork on weekends.

My biggest advice to you is to soak in as much as you can from as many people as you can. When I was a student teacher I was fortunate to be paired with a fabulous mentor. However, it took me a while to find my own style. I've since had a student teacher of my own as well as team teaching with a first-year teacher, and I found as many opportunities as possible for them to observe in other rooms, ask questions, etc. You'll find the bits and pieces from all of them that you want to make your own -- and you'll figure out things that you definitely don't want to do.

Student teaching is EXHAUSTING. The thing to remember is that actual teaching is nowhere near as hard, and that this is pretty much the most difficult things will get. One of my former student teachers (the absolute best I have ever had) confided in me that it used to take her hours to plan one 45 minute lesson. It takes her about 15 minutes now, after two years of teaching and her quality has only gone up (my school hired her full time because she was so good). Remind yourself that you are learning a skill, and it will all get easier from there.

I am sincerely taking everyone's advice and encouragement to heart! I have accepted the fact that there won't be much time for things other than student teaching but I will remember to take the little moments for myself (getting my nails done!). I also have the goal to book all major vendors and order my dress before the end of the summer so I can put wedding planning on the back burner until student teaching is over! I know it will be tough and I will not underestimate that but your encouragement is helping me realize that I can do this!

@Bemyguest I have requested 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade for student teaching because I would love to teach any of those grades in my future full time teaching position

@Delfina That is a very encouraging story! Right now it is taking me quite some time to make lesson plans. I am not teaching them but my classes right now are helping us prepare by making full lesson plans. I know that with practice it will get better so I will just keep pushing forward!

Hi! I'm student teaching right now. Mine is 8 months long though- I'm secondary ed- biology.

It sucks, but it can be done. It's taxing when you're basically paying a school $8000 to work a full time job, AND complete edTPA, AND save/plan a wedding. My advice is to work as much as possible before your student teaching starts, and pick up as many hours as you can without overloading yourself when it begins. Thankfully you only have to do it for four months, so hopefully it won't be terrible.

Soooo glad I'm done in May!

ETA: Just read Delfina's comment and I'll second what she said. I've gotten a little better over the last six months, but it still takes me roughly 2-3 hours to plan a lesson (it used to take me around 5). So that's something you should mentally prepare yourself for.

You're not getting married until the following august so I would book the big important stuff now before you start and then focus solely on student teaching. Do not focus on wedding stuff during those 4 months because you'll have plenty of time after. When I student taught I had a cooperating teacher who was in her last year and retiring at the end of my student teaching so she didn't really care too much haha. But that gave me the opportunity to try out a lot of teaching styles. Student teaching is exhausting but make sure you fully immerse yourself into it! Be involved in everything including after school activities because you will get a great letter of recommendation from your cooperating teacher if she/he sees how dedicated you are.

Right now I'm trying to complete my masters degree and plan my wedding for this summer. I have 2 more classes this summer ( during my wedding and honeymoon) and then I have my masters degree! Just trying not to be too overwhelmed haha

Very wise of you to be getting your vendors booked before student teaching! Get as much of the wedding stuff done as you can now, so you can get everything out of the student teaching experience in the fall. It's intense, but (at least in my experience) awesome, and you don't want planning for one (very important, but single) day taking away from preparing for your life's work. You can do it!

I start my student teaching in two and a half weeks (!) and I've been trying to plan as much as possible ahead of time. I have my major vendors booked and I'll be relying on the break between graduation and August to iron out all other details. I still plan to do some wedding planning during student teaching (need to make paper flowers), but it will definitely be on a back-burner. Luckily I signed a letter of intent so I won't also have to look for jobs. This is not related to your question, but are you not in a classroom before going in to full time student teacher? I always think it's interesting to see the programs in other states/schools.

3rd year teacher here and everyone is right. You will be exhausted. But it is a truly amazing time and I loved my student teaching experience. Make sure to take time for yourself, and time for you and FH as a couple. Teaching in general is a very time consuming profession and requires a lot of energy, and it can be very easy to lose sight of anything else in life. Keep a date night going, even if it's pizza and a movie at home while grading waits. Do it. You will need it and it makes you feel human again. Teaching is tough but a life is manageable as long as you remember to take time for yourself.

Student teaching is craziness. It's very stressful and tons of work. I've been doing special ed for 17 years and quite honestly it's still crazy insane with work and planning! You will learn and ton and it is rewarding! The financial strain is tough. I lived with my parents while student teaching and worked everyday after student teaching till 9pm.

My suggestion is to take everything in and enjoy it and learn from it. It's ok to make mistakes but just learn from them! The financial strain is rough. Personally there would be no way I could financially and physically plan a wedding while student teaching. Make sure to take time for yourself too!!!!

Don't. Do. It.