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Recruiting Student Teachers
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• Get Organized. Develop an application form, and work with your university’s financial accounting office in advance to ensure payment schedules for assistantships are in place. Consider developing job descriptions to convey required skills, talents, and characteristics to succeed as a teacher in the String Project. Create all the necessary paperwork to help manage the process smoothly.
• Announce the News. Find the right place and time to make announcements about new student teacher openings for your String Project. Concerts, practices, classes, meetings. Get the word out!
• Collaborate With Your Colleagues. Accept recommendations from your colleagues. Ask department and school professors, teachers, and advisors to complete a recommendation form for interested students.
• Set a Professional Tone. Conduct formal interviews with each of the candidates, even if competition for spaces is low. Doing so helps ensures candidates are motivated and serious about their commitment to your String Project. Plus, each prospective student teacher will gain an opportunity to candidly ask questions about the program.
• Promote While You Recruit. Create posters about your String Project and send them to high schools as part of your school’s recruiting process. Create a brochure on your String Project that targets high school students who are prospective undergraduate teachers for the program. This is a great recruiting tool for your school, and your chairman will love it! Also, send announcements to all string players applying to your college. Include in the announcements the names of your undergraduate student teachers, along with the high schools they attended and some of their activities. A great way to make a strong impression on prospective students.
• Look for Characteristics of Success. If you’re like some Projects that experience a surplus of candidates for their programs, look for students who are focused, can maintain good eye contact, and can converse naturally with others. Of course, an enthusiastic spirit and a strong interest in teaching are also important. Ask candidates to articulate, verbally or in writing, their thoughts about teaching and their reasons for wanting to participate in the program.
• Communicate Expectations. Ensure undergraduates have the information they need to be successful, including a handbook with guidelines on the appropriate dress, other procedures, and suggestions on how to be an effective teacher and assistant. Be sure to collect email addresses for all student teachers and maintain open communication throughout the semester. Hold weekly meetings as a group or individually to discuss issues, approaches, and plans for future lessons.
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