5 Student Teaching Tips and the Lesson Planning Tool I Wish I Had

I student taught over a decade ago, and I still remember how overwhelming it felt to teach all day, work after, and keep lesson plans, observations, meetings, materials, and feedback organized somewhere in between. This post is about five things I’d do differently now — and why Common Planner is the lesson planning tool I wish I’d had.

If you’re student teaching, you already have a lot to manage: lesson plans, observations, meetings, feedback, materials, and everything your program expects from you. When all of that is spread across Google Docs, paper notes, emails, and random folders, it gets messy fast.

That’s why having one organized, digital planbook helps. Common Planner gives student teachers a place to organize lessons, reuse templates, attach materials, share plans, and keep feedback connected to the lesson it belongs to.

1) Use One Digital Planbook For Student Teaching

If I were doing student teaching again, the first thing I would do is pick one place to keep everything. Not some lesson plans in Google Docs, some notes on paper, and feedback buried in email. One place.

The one place I’d choose is Common Planner. You can keep your lessons, materials, and notes in your planbook so you’re not constantly trying to remember where everything went.

When things get busy — and they will! — having one organized system makes a huge difference.

2) Create A Reusable Student Teaching Lesson Plan Template

Your program, supervisor, or cooperating teacher might require a specific lesson plan format. Instead of rebuilding it every time, turn it into a reusable template once.

In Common Planner, you can customize a template for your classes and it will show up automatically — no copying and pasting.

A student teaching lesson plan template might include:

• standards
• objectives
• bell work
• accommodations
• assessment
• reflection

If you know what your program expects, add those sections up front so planning is faster and more consistent.

3) Keep Your Lesson Materials With The Lesson

Attach the things you actually need right inside the lesson. That might be links, slides, handouts, videos, notes, or anything else you’ll use while teaching.

You can also save things you want to remember from the day, like board work, anchor charts, student examples, or anything you wrote out on paper. Just log into Common Planner on your phone, snap a photo, and attach it to the lesson.

In Common Planner, it’s easy to attach documents and files and add links to every lesson — and those materials stay with the lesson even if you need to move the lesson around or reorganize your planbook.

This saves you from the usual “Where did I put that?” problem. Instead of having your lesson in one place and your materials in three other places, everything stays together.

That is especially helpful during student teaching because you are usually moving fast, getting observed, and making changes as you go.

4) Share Lesson Plans With Your Cooperating Teacher Or Supervisor

If your cooperating teacher, mentor teacher, or college supervisor needs to see your lessons, don’t wait until the last minute to send a doc or print something out.

There are two ways to share — depending on what level of access you want them to have:

• Add them as a collaborator (and set their permission level):

1. Go to Settings
2. Go to Collaborators
3. Add their email and choose whether they can Edit or Comment

• Send a link (view-only):
  • If you only want them to view your plans, share a link instead. You don’t have to add them as a collaborator.

Either way, the people supporting you can see your plans in the same place where you are actually building them, which makes feedback and revisions much easier.

5) Keep Student Teaching Feedback Attached To The Lesson

Instead of getting feedback on a paper copy or in a separate email thread, keep it attached to the lesson itself.

Two things I wish I’d done consistently during student teaching:

• Keep observation notes + feedback attached to the lesson (so you can find it fast before your next observation).
• Keep a running reflection section for your supervisor (what went well, what you’d change, and what you’re trying next time).

If you get feedback on paper, you can log into Common Planner on your phone, snap a photo, and attach it right to the lesson. If feedback comes in an email, copy and paste it into your lesson plan (you can even add a section called “Feedback”). If feedback lives on a document, link it or download and attach it to the lesson so it stays with the plan. And if the person leaving feedback is added as a collaborator to your planbook, they can go in and leave comments directly.

When comments and notes stay with the actual lesson, it’s much easier to go back, review what you were told, and use that feedback the next time you teach. That matters a lot during student teaching because you’re getting feedback constantly — if it stays with the lesson, you can actually use it.

Set Yourself Up Early

If you are about to start student teaching, set up your planbook before things get busy. Build one template, add the sections you know you will need, and start using it right away.

That way, when observations, meetings, lesson changes, and feedback start piling up, you already have a system in place — and you’re also building a solid lesson planning foundation for your first teaching job.

Because this is a digital planbook, you won’t lose it when student teaching ends. The materials and resources you create or collect stay in your account, so you can keep using (and improving) them long after you’re hired.

FAQ

What Is The Best Way To Stay Organized During Student Teaching?

Use one organized, digital planbook to keep your lesson plans, materials, notes, feedback, and observation prep in one place instead of spreading everything across docs, paper, email, and folders.

Do Student Teachers Need A Lesson Plan Template?

Yes. A reusable lesson plan template saves time, especially if your program, supervisor, or cooperating teacher expects a specific format.

How Can Student Teachers Share Lesson Plans With A Cooperating Teacher?

Student teachers can share their Common Planner planbook by adding a cooperating teacher, mentor, or supervisor as a collaborator, or by sending a view-only link if they just need to see the plans.

How Should Student Teachers Keep Track Of Feedback?

Keep feedback attached to the lesson it applies to by adding notes, pasting in email feedback, attaching feedback documents, snapping a photo of paper feedback, or letting collaborators leave comments directly in the planbook.

Can Student Teachers Keep Their Lessons After Student Teaching?

Yes. Because Common Planner is a digital planbook, the lessons, materials, and resources you build during student teaching stay in your account so you can keep using and improving them later.

Wrap-Up

Student teaching is already a lot. Common Planner gives student teachers one organized place to plan lessons, reuse templates, share plans, and keep feedback connected to the work it belongs to.