As a year seven form tutor it's not uncommon for people to come up to me and ask if it's okay for a student teacher to spend some time with my class, to come into registration and to generally help out with form tutorly business. Before Christmas there was a student in the maths department who came in but didn't really do anything much. This was okay as at least she fitted the bill as a token student teacher presence and made me look like I had a vague idea what I was doing by comparison.

But right now I've got a psychology student in with me and she could quite possibly teach me a thing or two about pastoral responsibilities. She seems really well clued up and extremely keen. Earlier today she was telling me about some boys in my form being silly when they were on duty as reception monitors and suggesting what I should do. I was left wondering who was the one in need of training.

I reckon I've got a choice: sulk about having someone in my classroom who could potentially show me up, try to undermine her whenever possible ('she's just a student teacher y'know') and generally be a git, or enjoy having someone around who not only could be very handy with getting the kids sorted and getting involved with activities in registration but might actually push me on to becoming a better teacher/form tutor.

It's not exactly difficult to see what attitude to take.

Did I mention she's hot as well?