Being a teacher candidate is all at once an exciting time of learning and a terrifying period of putting into practice all the pedagogy, methodology, strategies, protocols, ideas, tools and plans you have been learning about. I remember the ups and downs of my own teaching practicums as being some of the highest and lowest of my teaching career. I worked as hard as I have ever worked and I am still proud of some of the connections I made with students, a few of the lessons I taught and the difference I might have made. Like the grade 11 girl who told me on a feedback form (asking students for feedback is something I have continued throughout my career) that the “A” she earned in my class was the first time she felt like really deserved it and didn’t get it based on her reputation as a good student. There are also A LOT of moments I look back on through a lens of experience that I cringe at and regret. Like bursting into tears in a meeting with a parent (the parent and other teachers in the room were so gracious) or taking off 10% a day for late assignments (what was I thinking?) or how I “disciplined” a student in anger for taking a tennis ball out of my bag by berating him in front of his peers.
All teachers 
have these stories of victories and regrets from throughout their careers but perhaps the most poignant are those from our first experiences in the classroom. In the December 2016 issue of Education Update from the ASCD, Laura Varlas offers ten survival tips from a student teacher. Check out her advice here.