Office of the Dean of the Conservatory

For Student Teachers

Conservatory students who would like to be approved to teach secondary credit or non-credit lessons should contact their teacher or program chair.

The chair will notify the Conservatory Office of Associate Deans and you will then be placed on an “approved to teach” list. Please Note: Some departments have pedagogy courses or pre-requisites prior to approval. Secondary student teachers must be registered for their primary lessons and in good academic standing. (Students on academic standing, on leave, or who have graduated are not eligible to teach secondary lessons.)

Approved secondary student-teachers will be notified of their student assignments via e-mail each semester just prior to add/drop. Once the e-mail confirmation is received, the student teacher should reach out to their assigned student via e-mail to begin lessons.

Student teachers do not register or receive credit for teaching secondary lessons, however they do receive payment for each half-hour lesson per student. (Please note, for some student piano teachers their student is assigned as part of their pedagogy class - and they do not receive payment for lessons.)

Being a student teacher is an honor and wonderful experience for your careers; but it also involves great responsibility. You will be held accountable for the following information pertaining to lesson structure and payment.

Please visit the Conservatory Policies and Procedures page for information regarding Off-Campus Travel, Dress Codes; as well as practice room, keys, and locker assignments.

Please Note: Student teachers must have residency in the state of Ohio during the semester in which they are teaching secondary lessons.

  1. It is the secondary lesson student’s responsibility to submit a Secondary Lesson Application Form - not the student teacher. Please do not apply on behalf of the student. Once teacher assignments are approved by the department, they are sent to the office of the associate deans. Once confirmed via email, please contact your student via email to set up lesson times for the semester. (Please do not wait for them to contact you.) If, for any reason, you have not started lessons by the third week of classes please contact the Office of the Associate Deans immediately!

  2. Your student(s) must be registered using the appropriate CRN for lessons prior to the add/drop deadline. The Conservatory will pay you per each 1/2-hour lesson for registered students. 

  3. Your students must take lessons for 2 credit hours; 0 or 1 credit or audit option are not available. If they are not registered for 2 credit hours, then they will not receive credit or a grade, and they must pay you directly per 1/2-hour lesson. Approved secondary lesson student-teachers must not charge beyond the standing secondary lessons for credit rate if teaching an Oberlin student or community member on campus or remotely.

  4. Your assignment was faculty approved. Once assigned, you will not be allowed to change students without an associate dean’s approval. This causes a registrational error much like switching from chemistry to biology without changing registration. This usually results in secondary course failure for your student. Also, student teachers will not be paid for students not officially assigned to them. A change must not only be approved by the faculty sponsor, but also the Conservatory Office of the Associate Deans for discrepancies or changes as soon as possible!

  5. It is the Student AND Student Teacher's responsibility to contact the Office of the Associate Deans immediately if your student decides they do not have room in their schedule, has scheduling conflicts, misses several lessons, or you experience any other difficulties. You will only be paid for completed lessons; you do not receive pay should a student or teacher fail to attend. The lesson dates listed on student Time-Clock-Plus (TCP) indicate completed lessons - TCP must be submitted at least every two weeks online prior to the next pay period. Secondary teachers must adhere to the Oberlin Honor Code when submitting lesson hours. 

  6. Student-taught secondary lessons receive “Pass or No-Pass” Grading: You will be expected to submit midterm grades before fall/spring recess, and final grades before exams for your registered students. Please submit these grades via e-mail to your faculty teacher as they will act as faculty sponsor for these lessons and ultimately submit the grades. If you fail to submit grades, the default grade is “No-Pass” for your student. Please do not let your student(s) get to mid-terms only to discover they have never had a lesson - contact condeans@oberlin.edu immediately.

  7. It is also important that you submit a midterm grade, especially (N) for Not Attending. This is the only alert to the student or our office that they may be registered for lessons they did not intend to take. They will receive NP on their transcript if they do not fix it! Other midterm grades are (S) Satisfactory, (R) Borderline, and (N) Unsatisfactory. (Never assign an "S" to a student who has not taken a lesson with you.)

  8. You should be giving half-hour lessons once per week for the length of the semester (estimated 13 weeks; not to exceed 13 half-hour lessons per student, per semester; a minimum of 10 half-hour lessons per semester). You may need to teach a one-hour lesson or two half-hour lessons per week to catch up with the start of the semester to accommodate delayed assignments - but secondary lessons must only be 1/2-hour lessons once per week for the remainder of the semester in order to achieve consistent pedagogy and supervision. Secondary lessons are considered coursework worth 2 credits and therefore a set weekly schedule of 1/2-hour lessons is implied and preferred for proper pedagogy. Lessons may be taught in person or remotely during COVID.

  9. Finally, secondary lessons for credit are considered “supervised” student teaching. This means your faculty teacher/sponsor should be informed of your student(s)’ progression in lessons. During the semester, please schedule an appointment with your faculty teacher/sponsor to hear your student perform; and contact your faculty teacher/sponsor for specific performance requirements. Your faculty sponsor (or available faculty) must observe/supervise your lesson at least once during the semester.

Please contact Jennifer Gendics if you have questions regarding secondary lessons student teaching. 

Student employment cards must be completed annually at the beginning of the semester for each on-campus job, including secondary student teaching. Time-Clock-Plus must be completed and submitted at least every two weeks during the semester prior to the next pay period. (See Step 4 Below). (Please DO NOT wait until the end of the semester to submit your student employment paperwork or teaching hours!) In order to be paid for secondary teaching, you must complete the following process:

SECONDARY LESSON PAY RATE: Effective 07/22/24 Fall 2024 Semester...
Student teachers will be paid $12 per half-hour; and $24 per hour for PVST-Secondary Lessons. Update! Student teachers will be using Time-Clock-Plus (TCP) to record their hours starting Fall 2024 semester! Please see e-mail updates from Irene.Harris@oberlin.edu.

  1. All secondary student teachers must create an Oberlin Jobs Account and Profile to use during their Oberlin career if they have not already done so. Students can apply for one or more jobs on campus during their Oberlin career using this account. Students can set up their account before they arrive on campus.

  2. When you arrive: If you’ve never worked on campus before, you must first go to the Student Employment Office and complete your I-9 and tax forms. You will need the required identification listed on the Employment Eligibility Verification [I-9 Form] (Usually a driver's license, birth certificate, and/or social security card). Photocopies of documents are not acceptable.

  3. If you have worked on campus before, completed your I-9, and completed your Oberlin Jobs Account and Profile, you only need to complete the online Student Employment Card (SEC). The Student Employment Card (SEC) Application must be completed every school year for each on-campus position. The SEC Application is due by the Add/Drop deadline at the beginning of each semester.

  4. Time-Clock-Plus (TCP) hours are due at least every two weeks prior to the next pay-period. Please do NOT wait until the end of the semester to turn in all of your lessons; we need them to monitor and supervise your lesson progress throughout the semester and TCP requires submission before each pay period. (See Academic Payroll Calendar.) Please make sure to include the following information in your TCP entries:
    A) In the "Notes" section for each of your entries on TCP you must type in the name of the student you are recording hours for and teaching.
    B) If a student is not clocking in/out in TCP, is not noting the student taught in TCP, or is logging lessons over a half hour without prior approval, they will no longer be eligible to teach. (If a student must take an hour lesson to make up for lessons lost in the first few weeks, please record this as two separate half hour lessons. Student teachers cannot exceed one-hour per student in any given week - contact Irene.Harris@oberlin.edu if you have questions about make-up lessons.)
    C) Any make-up lessons due to illness or schedule, should be noted as such by marking MU (Make-Up) and the name of the student taught in the notes for that TCP entry.

  5. Again, you will not be paid by the conservatory for students who forgot to register, so please confirm registration with your student before lessons begin. Students taking lessons without credit (or those not registered) must pay you directly per half hour lesson. You will only be paid for completed lessons. Please note: Lessons taught in any Conservatory/Oberlin Campus locations or using Oberlin Resources must adhere to Oberlin Conservatory Secondary Lesson standard billing, which is currently $12 per 1/2-hour lesson or $24 for hourly lessons.

    You will not be paid for students you were not approved to teach. This means if you switch students around without the approval of condeans@oberlin.edu , then your fee schedule will not be adjusted accordingly. Over the semester you will receive secondary lesson e-mails regarding your student assignment(s) - Please make sure all of your students are correctly listed. Thank you.

Please contact Irene Harris (440-775-5530 ), whose office is in the Conservatory Annex, if you have questions regarding payment procedures for secondary lessons.