Cooperating Teacher Kickoff Builder

Use your program's requirements first. This tool helps with the practical classroom side of student teaching; it does not replace university, district, school, or licensure requirements.

Grade level / subject

Cooperating teacher (optional)

Best day-to-day communication method

When should lesson plans/materials be ready for review?

How would you like feedback to work?

Preferred weekly check-in time

Topics that need to be clarified

Classroom management and consequences Grading and feedback responsibilities Family communication and family contact Curriculum and materials Observations and required paperwork When to step in during instruction School routines and duties Gradual increase in teaching responsibility

One question or concern you especially want to discuss (optional)

Your answers stay in your browser. This tool does not save or submit them.

Start the placement with clear expectations

Student teaching gets complicated quickly when small expectations stay unspoken. Your cooperating teacher may assume you know when plans are due, how behavior problems are handled, which school routines matter most, or when you should step in during instruction. You may be waiting for the mentor to explain those things. Neither person is necessarily doing anything wrong; the expectations simply have not been made visible yet.

The kickoff builder turns those early questions into a short conversation agenda. Use it during the first days of a placement, when you begin taking on more responsibility, or any time the working relationship feels vague. The goal is not to make the placement formal or awkward. It is to make sure both people know how planning, feedback, classroom management, grading, family communication, observations, and weekly check-ins are supposed to work.

What should you clarify with a cooperating teacher?

Start with the practical things that affect tomorrow: when lesson plans should be ready, how the two of you will communicate, what classroom routines students already know, what behavior responses are established, and when your mentor wants you to ask for help. Then clarify responsibilities that may come later, such as grading, contacting families, preparing materials, supervising transitions, and taking over larger instructional blocks.

Your university or licensure program may require specific meetings, forms, timelines, or documentation. Follow those requirements first. This tool is meant to fill in the classroom details that a handbook may not settle.

For more help with the mentoring relationship, read How to Work With Your Cooperating Teacher. You can also return to the Student Teaching Survival hub for planning, classroom management, first-week, and observation support.