I'll be doing my first practicum this fall and I could not be more excited! Right now I'm struggling with what I should wear when I am in the classroom besides the obvious nothing with sex, drugs, violence, etc. I have had friends at the other universities who have been able to wear jeans and sneakers (which seems much to casual to me) and others who have been excepted to dress like they would if they were truly teachers. I'll be in an elementary age room, but have not been assigned a specific grade yet. For those of you have gone through practicums or have had practicum students in your class recently, what did you wear or what did you expect them to wear? I appreciate all your feedback and help!
I would dress as if I was already a teacher. That's what I did when I did my student teaching in middle school. In my opinion, jeans and T shit are not ok, even if they technically allow it. It's just not professional.
That was my thought on it too. Dressing nice shows that you care and helps earn respect from the students.
Dress neatly....semi professionally, as nice as you can afford. Think multiples, things that can be mixed and matched: Neutral trousers/skirts Long and short sleeve jersey knit tees Cardigans-bring in some color here Accent with jewelry, scarves Comfortable but nice shoes (I wear heels ALL the time, but I'm a bit of an anomaly) Men: Trousers Button down shirts A great belt Polished professional shoes I don't think a tie is necessary, but it does give a nice pop of color
What universities are these? I'm sorry but I have a serious problem with any supposedly "accredited" School of Ed saying this. Doesn't mean it doesn't happen, of course, but is this a well respected program? We were told to ALWAYS dress up even on "casual, dress down days" where the teachers come in because "they've earned the privilege, you haven't." They were very strict with us, I'll never forget the student teaching coordinator saying to us, "During staff meetings, you listen, but your mouth is closed!" Jeans & sneakers wasn't going to fly. I didn't have to wear a tie except on days when I was being observed, because my supervisor expected it. Men can look professional without wearing a tie, but some prefer it. Any time you interact with this world, you're interviewing and selling yourself. What impression do you want to sell? And even IF you could dress down, you're trying to impress, take some pride and DRESS UP! You can google "young male (or female) teacher dress" and get all kinds of ideas. Also, your college didn't go over the dos and don't of dress with you? Not even a handbook? There is a thread on this topic I believe as I referred to my TA wearing "hooker heals," (it wasn't me being mysognistic or sexist by exhaggerating women's dress, they were legit clubbing shoes) which caused a stir. Don't wear those! LOL
I wore a dress shirt and pants and a tie every day I student taught. Didn't help me, but I was told by my CT to dress better than the real teachers.
Nice slacks Nice tops Nice dresses & skirts if you want to wear them. Nice jewelry to tie the look together. Professional shoes. I personally couldn't wear heels w/ my (past-injured) ankle.
True. I'd wear a dress shirt, dress pants, and dress shoes. On days my university supervisor came, I would wear a tie (because she thought "All men should wear ties!")
I'm in the practicum phase myself. My normal clothing is already close (dark jeans, solid color t-shirts under a complimenting button-down.) I just swap the jeans for khakis, tuck the shirts in, and button the button-down. I DID hit up Goodwill and buy myself a few blazers. Got a corduroy tan one with leather elbow patches. I feel so Hipster English Teacher wearing it.
When I was student teaching I dressed professionally every day. The school I was in allowed the teachers to wear jeans, but I never did. Think of student teaching as one loooong job interview. I did dress for spirit days (i.e. pajama day) and was even observed on 'hat day' but my university supervisor liked that I was participating in the school community.
I am student teaching now and the school I am in allows their teachers to dress pretty casually (jeans, sneakers, etc. are allowed), but I never wear them.
Yeah even as a first year teacher we could wear jeans, but I only did before Holiday breaks & (some) Fridays. If you dress up, and LOOK professional, you'll look at yourself and FEEL like a professional. If you show up in a t-shirt and jeans, will you really FEEL like you're ready to stand in front of a classroom and instruct students? And I'm not talking about like a science day or w/e where you may get messy... I'm saying the first day you walk into the classroom, what message are you sending and what impression will your students have of you?
This definitely plays a role in my wardrobe choices. I discovered a few years ago when I had to take a public speaking class that my normal shy introverted self suddenly became a lot more authoritative and outgoing when I dressed up more. (Which eventually led to me thinking that teaching might not be such a crazy idea after all.)
I saw a student at Costco over the weekend. When he saw me on Monday, he said, "You weren't even wearing your suit!!!" Funny thing is that I've never worn a suit to school. In their eyes, though, a shirt and tie = suit.
To be fair, at that age, that's what I thought the definition of a "suit" was as well. I didn't exactly dress up often back then.
