Student teachers: to have or have not?

I've heard a lot of reasons to not have a student teacher. I've heard a lot of reason for having a student teacher. I can see both sides, especially in the core subjects, or in a critical class that has a state exam or is required for graduation.

Not to say that Spanish isn't an important class (like I'd want to invalidate my own job!) but I think there's no real reason to not have a student teacher if the opportunity presents itself.

Let's lay down the ground rules: You have to stay in the classroom and actually observe the student teacher. When I was in college, both of my cooperating teachers were the kind that would disappear and never actually observe me or offer any advice. I feel this was extremely detrimental to me and that my early career suffered for it. The first time I had a student teacher, I crossed my heart and promised her that I would sit in the class and observe her work and provide as much feedback as I could. And I have kept that promise ever since, even now with my fifth student teacher.

Hosting a student teacher is not vacation time. Looking back, I now get angry at my cooperating teachers for abandoning me, and mad at my young, naive self for not speaking up and asking for assistance. I don't want anyone to go through the same experience as me, and so I make sure they know that I will be there and I will be working with them to learn and grow. And I'm not gonna lie, it's a lot of work! Not only do I have to complete mid-term and final evaluations for the university, I have to give the day to day feedback. If a lesson didn't go so great the first time, you have to talk through what went wrong and discuss how to improve it. And the hardest part is not telling them what to do, but to let them figure out what could work better. And then, you have to sit through the next class and watch the adapted lesson, assuming you have that class level again. And if you have more than one prep, you have to repeat the process for that class too.

Sometimes, I can, in fact, slip away. Our department has a separate office, and if I have seen a lesson, it went well, then during the next class I may skip out on observing and go work on organizing the office. And believe me, it needs organizing!

Not an actual picture of the office, but there are striking similarities

I can not stress enough how important it is as a cooperating teacher to be present and observant. A student teacher with no feedback will have no idea whether or not they are doing well, or meeting school and state requirements, and they will not be able to come up with ideas if they hit a road block or discipline issue, etc, if they can even recognize one! If you're going to take on a student teacher, it's a fine balance of work to do, and work you can get done for the future. But it's totally worth it, in my mind!