One aspect of the student teaching experience that has been invaluable to me is the application of tough love. With the two cooperating teachers that I have worked with, one has rescued me when the class wasn't moving in the right direction, while the other let me struggle.
Let me just add that when the one cooperating teacher "rescued" me, it was not because he didn't gave faith in me as a teacher. That can sometimes be the case, and it feels terrible. In rescuing me, he was acting similarly to the way a parent protects their young.
When one becomes a full-fledged teacher, there will not be anyone to "rescue" you from the awkward and unplanned moments. As a teacher, you have to learn to live with the discomforts of wait times and lack interest in a lesson.
While I know my one cooperating teacher was only trying to "protect me", and perhaps wasn't even aware of what he was doing, I made a point of asking him not to rescue me. This situation, of me asking and him doing, was hard but necessary. I encourage all student teachers to ask this of your cooperating teachers. If your cooperating teacher reacts adversely to this request, than he/she has an obvious need for control in their classroom and it has little or nothing to do with you.
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