Student teacher resume example

What recruiters look for

• Student teaching in detail: grade, subject, class size, how long you led the class and what students learned.
• Licensure status: exams passed, background clearance, and the month your initial license is expected.
• Classroom management: routines and behavior systems you ran yourself, not only observed.
• Reading and math instruction: especially structured literacy for elementary jobs, which many states now require.
• Work with children outside school: tutoring, coaching, camps and childcare all count and show you chose this work.

Writing the summary

Say what you will be certified to teach, when you graduate, and the strength a principal would want in a new teacher (reading instruction, bilingual communication, classroom routines, a subject specialty). Two sentences is enough.

Bullet points that work

Strong lines for this role, beyond the ones in the example. Borrow the shape and put in your own numbers.

• Led a 2nd grade class of 24 for 8 weeks of full-time takeover, keeping the mentor teacher’s routines and adding a morning meeting.
• Raised the share of students meeting the weekly spelling goal from 55% to 80% by switching to a word-sorting routine.
• Wrote and taught a 10-lesson persuasive writing unit; 19 of 23 students scored proficient on the district rubric.
• Ran a guided reading group of 5 English learners using picture walks and sentence frames; 4 moved up one reading level in a semester.
• Created a classroom job chart and transition signals that cut time lost between activities by about 10 minutes a day.
• Organized a family science night for 60 families with 8 hands-on stations.
• Graded and gave written feedback on 300 student assignments during the takeover weeks, with work returned within two days.
• Tutored 15 children a week at an after-school program for two years while studying full time.
• Observed and reflected on 40 lessons by 6 different teachers across grades K to 5 during practicum.

Skills to list

Certifications and licenses worth listing

• Your state’s certification exams: list the ones you have passed by name; elementary candidates often also need a reading or science-of-reading exam.
• Background clearance: a fingerprint card or state clearance is required before you can work in a school. Listing it shows you are ready to start.
• Performance assessment (edTPA or PPAT) where your program requires it: list it as passed or completed once you have the result.
• First Aid and CPR: useful for elementary, early childhood and coaching roles.

Length and format

One page. Order: summary, education, student teaching and practicum, other work with children, activities, licensure, skills. Once you have a full year of teaching, experience moves above education and the practicum can go.

Common mistakes

• Describing student teaching as “observed and assisted”. If you led lessons, say what you taught and what students learned.
• Leaving out licensure status, which makes HR guess whether you can start in August.
• A teaching philosophy paragraph in place of a summary. Save it for the application questions.
• Naming students or including photos of children in an online portfolio without permission.
• Listing every education course. Pick the ones that match the job: literacy, math methods, special education, English learners.