Student teaching while pregnant

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Hi all, I was hoping for some shopping tips here. I am supposed to be doing student teaching in the fall if the department chair lets me. She has yet to find out I’m pregnant so that might influence her decision of whether or not to let me if she finds that out… Without going into all the annoying details, assuming I am able to student teach, her rules are women have to wear skirts or dresses, panty hose, high heals, and nice shirts all the time. I’m not sure about make-up, but I refuse to wear it anyway so that doesn’t matter. The school’s rules are different. They require nice, business casual type clothes – pants are fine as are flats and sandles, and Friday is casual so jeans and tennis shoes are ok then. I plan on going with the school’s policy and taking the loss of points for not wearing hose and high heals. I’d pee myself trying to get the hose off in the tiny bathroom stalls assuming I didn’t kill myself attempting to run there with heels on in the first place.

This is my first pregnancy and I’m only three months now, so I don’t have many maternity clothes yet, let alone a dressy maternity wardrobe. I was wondering if people could point me in the direction of cheap yet nice clothes. I’ve got a couple maternity shirts from goodwill (they barely have one rack of maternity stuff and it’s mostly tank tops) and a couple maternity capri pants from walmart, but the walmart stuff is **** and it probably won’t last this pregnancy so I definately don’t want to buy anything else from them. We’re working with a very limited budget and the only stores in town are walmart, biglots, jcpenney, and kmart so mt options are online shopping, traveling an hour to visit a target, or two hours to go to St. Louis. I’ve heard good things about target so I’m leaning towards that and online shopping. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
 
I can’t help you with the maternity wear, but I did want to comment on two things:

(1) If your advisor denies your student teaching solely on the grounds of your pregnancy, he may be breaking the law (assuming you are in the US). The Pregnancy Discrimination Act applies to employers, and might apply to your situation as well. I know there have been many cases of Universities in the hot seat because they denied equal treatment to pregnant students.

(2) That said, student teaching is VERY stressful and exhausting. So, consider carefully whether its worth it to you to do it now or wait.
 
Is there a Target anywhere nearby?.. Maybe WalMart or JCPenney will be just as good, but I’ve always done really well at Target.

Invest in a few nice pairs of pants… and one or two knee-length skirts… and several mix & match shirts that can be worn with the different bottoms. I did invest in decent brand pants… GAP & Motherhood Maternity worked well for me, but those investments have lasted a long time. One thing to note though… maternity pants are made with lots of elastic, so they WILL shrink in length when you wash them. Buy longer than normal. I’ve been burned by trying on pants and getting lengths that fit when I tried them on.

Honestly, I have 2 pairs of nice work pants, one jean skirt, and two pairs of jeans… and those have lasted me through 3 pregnancies!

Also, consider some dresses (not sure where you live, sun-dresses are pretty year-round here in FL)… towards the end they can be really comfortable when you’re feeling big and hot!

Hope that helps a bit! Good luck and congratulations! 🙂
 
I found consignment to be a huge blessing when I was pregnant with both of my children - very reasonable prices, and most places mark down items after 1 month, and then again after 2 months. I’d often “risk” an item not being there so I could hit the 2 mo mark and get 50% off.

As for the hose - you’d be surprised, good maternity hose (in the fall/winter I liked the opaque tights) is very comfortable and helps with being on your feet all day. And I never found the need to buy maternity underwear - I wore regular bikinis throughout and then bought bra extenders (and in the last few weeks, two soft non underwire nursing bras).

And I agree with the other poster - dresses are more comfortable, particularly near the end, than separates. In my last 6 weeks, I had this thing about things on my belly - no elastic, I’d only wear one piece clothes or things that fit under my belly.
 
1ke - thanks for the link, and I know that. The thing is there is this one class that the department chair says I have to have, but my advisor says I don’t have to have. Philosophy is a BA requirement, but I have a BS and it is not a requirement for that degree. The problem lies in the fact that the biology education checklist sheet that gets sent to the state after completion of the program is based on a BA not a BS… since one based on a BS has not been typed out yet, according to the department chair’s way of thinking, it doesn’t exist so you can’t do it. Never mind the catalog that blatantly advertises you can get certified to teach with either a BA or BS as long as you fulfill the state requirements… My worry is the chair will find out I’m pregnant and flat out refuse to allow any leeway in my case because of that. Other students have told me that she has refused to let pregnant students do their student teaching in the past, but that’s heresay and while I could believe it easily, I realize it could be exaggerated and will give her the benefit of the doubt until she gives me reason not to.
 
journey137 said:
her rules are women have to wear skirts or dresses, panty hose, high heals, and nice shirts all the time. I’m not sure about make-up, but I refuse to wear it anyway so that doesn’t matter.
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That is absolutely illegal. I seriously doubt she requires the men to wear skirts or dresses, panty hose and high heals…
 
Jeanne_dArc said:
That is absolutely illegal. I seriously doubt she requires the men to wear skirts or dresses, panty hose and high heals…
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My thoughts too, though it’s OT. One can legally ban high heels/unenclosed footwear and insist on safety footwear etc. One can have an office dress code that requires “dress shoes” but that requirement can be met with low-heeled slip-on shoes. How on earth can anyone be compelled to wear heels and hose? Or not be allowed to wear trousers? :confused:

Best of luck with it. I know how stressful it can be with that last tick in the box subject to the whims of one temperamental person. Been there, done that. 😦
 
Jeanne_dArc said:
That is absolutely illegal. I seriously doubt she requires the men to wear skirts or dresses, panty hose and high heals…
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The school where I teach requires panty hose, skirts or dresses and closed toe shoes for women. Men have to wear a shirt, tie and slacks.
 
Sorry I didn’t reply to the other kind replies with my last one, but I had to run out and I have not had a chance to get back on until now. Thank you for the tips so far.

For the poster that mentioned target, there is one about an hour away which I think I will visit. Consignment shops are few and far between here and honestly I’ve never seen one for adult’s clothes. There are two for children’s clothes, but for adults there’s goodwill and salvation army and that’s all I know of, although I will ask around and see if I just have not come across it yet.

For the people that said this lady’s dress code is crazy, it is. We are student teachers going into public schools. IMO we should follow the dress code of whatever school we are placed, not her personal standard. And yes, if I’m not wearing hose, heels, or a skirt/dress, no matter how huge I get, I will get docked points on her evaluations of me for not wearing appropriate attire. This lady is probably in her 60’s and quite frankly she’s crazy and needed to retire years ago. She is so set in her ways (my way or the highway type of personality) and “old school” in her philosophy that she has fired one of her newly hired professors three months into the first semester of that person’s teaching. That poor prof had never taught at the college level before.
 
journey, I’ve had some good luck with JCPenney’s and I saw some REALLY cute stuff at Target that would be business casual. Otherwise, I’d try ebay or craigslist.

I know you’re going for less expensive, but if you want to browse - Ann Taylor LOFT has a very nice, dressier maternity line, and Gap has great maternity and pretty good sales :)!
 
Check end of season sales that actually should be going on right about now at all the big name places - I got a lot from the Gap on major sale. You’ll be able to wear the short sleeves into October (depending where you live) and even longer if you throw in a cardigan or two. Then just when it gets colder you can grab the fall end of season clothes. It worked for me every time.
 
journey137 said:
This lady is probably in her 60’s and quite frankly she’s crazy and needed to retire years ago.
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Ah well, as someone once said to me of a particular bishop, “while there’s death, there’s hope”.

😃

I almost had my degree finalisation messed up by a lecturer who, well let’s just say he’s the only person I know who regularly received poison pen letters … I really hope you make it through this last stage OK, I can imagine it’s a bit stressful at times.
 
form one teacher to a “will be” teacher… student teaching can and will take a lot of energy. With the little ones you will spend a lot of time on your feet, bending, and moving. the upper grades are easier in the respect that you will not have to constantly be on your feet, but there is more time reading and correcting papers. Student teaching when pregnant can be done. Last year, there was a woman about three mths. pregnant and i would have never known, until the fact that she mentioned it. my only advice to you is to wear comfortable shoes, esp. w/ the little ones. When I first started teaching my feet were as sore as can be . when reality hit, the high heeled shoes were a thing of the past. In regards to maternity wear, I’ve noticed that Old Navy is now carrying a line. I’m not sure of prices, but Old Navy has always been very reasonable w/ their prices. You could probably find more info. online. This store is a favorite of my two daughters and myself because of their pricing and quaIity.
 
1.) The chair can’t base it on pregnancy, period, no matter what excuse she uses. If you have the proof, then you have her over a barrel. But perhaps you don’t want the hassle.
2.) Knock out that philosophy in summer school in an online course, or in community college if they’ll take the transfer. There’s still time and I know a philosophy professor.
3.) High heels? In school? All day? Having done the school thing, that is the craziest rule I have ever heard. Even when I was in Catholic school in the 1960s, the nuns wore “nun shoes” and the teachers wore flats or good tie shoes.

I can’t imagine in this day and age what university, knowing that students are paying customers, would allow this woman to continue to chair.
 
My mom was an elementary school teacher. She never wore skirts or dresses or panty hose or heels. You spend your day chasing around little kids and heels aren’t conducive to that. My other aunts are a college proffessor and a high school teacher, it’s always been business casual for them as well.

I also know, as she is retired and now supervises student teachers that they aren’t in the classroom everytime, and you will be told when she will be there, so you can always dress accordingly on those days.
 
Old navy, hadn’t thought of that. I’ve seen some of their stuff around and it looks nice, but when I was little my dad would never let me buy anything from old navy because he was an old marine, lol! No daughter of mine will be trapsing around with the NAVY advertised on her!!! I’ll check them out along with some after season sales at JCPennies.

It is too late for me to take a summer philosophy class because they are half over. The same applies to a community college I talked to about taking it online. There is a correspondence course I could take, but it is $270 per credit hour plus books and fees :eek: Almost $1000 for ONE CLASS!!! My financial aid couldn’t help with that and it’s too expensive for us right now. I’m talking with the chair’s boss, but he has not had a chance to go talk to her yet (he wants to talk to my advisor first so they can get a “battle plan” before going in to talk to her because she can be “difficult”). I’m not the only one having issues with the chair atm, and those two poor guys are getting rather annoyed with her inflexibility of late. If there was anyone else, I think she would have been gone, but technically she and one other person (who is mayor of a nearby town and thus too busy for a chair position) are the only two full time instructors in the education department.

By the way, I will be in a high school science room. Technically I’ll be covering maternity leave for one of the teachers there (I was going to cover for a guy that got put on active duty, but they hired someone to fill that position since I’ll not be able to teach in the spring semester with a new baby). She’s due a week after school starts and I’m not sure when she plans on returning. In a way I will just be teaching and not student teaching because I will be alone in the classroom with the students all day. No worries about chasing little kids all day.
 
1ke said:
(2) That said, student teaching is VERY stressful and exhausting. So, consider carefully whether its worth it to you to do it now or wait.
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I found out I was pregnant the day before Student Teaching, and found out I was pregnant WITH TWINS midway through student teaching.:eek: Good thing you’re in your last trimester. The smell of cafeteria food in the AM was vomitrocious. :rotfl:

Needless to say, I didn’t get to finish, as my Dr. put me on complete bedrest. I went back to finish ten yrs later, after homeschooling and being a SAHM for ten yrs! 😃
 
journey137 said:
By the way, I will be in a high school science room. Technically I’ll be covering maternity leave for one of the teachers there (I was going to cover for a guy that got put on active duty, but they hired someone to fill that position since I’ll not be able to teach in the spring semester with a new baby). She’s due a week after school starts and I’m not sure when she plans on returning. In a way I will just be teaching and not student teaching because I will be alone in the classroom with the students all day. No worries about chasing little kids all day.
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A good teacher moves in the classroom. It does not matter if the students are 5 or 50. And you haven’t been around adolescents much in a scientific environment, have you? You will still need to move, and move often enough. Experiments need to be checked, and teenagers do cause some havoc in the classroom. Unless you are very sure about your stability and balance, good footwear is essential to your health.
 
OutinChgoburbs said:
A good teacher moves in the classroom. It does not matter if the students are 5 or 50. And you haven’t been around adolescents much in a scientific environment, have you? You will still need to move, and move often enough. Experiments need to be checked, and teenagers do cause some havoc in the classroom. Unless you are very sure about your stability and balance, good footwear is essential to your health.
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Yes, I know I’ll have to move around. I’ve been around high schoolers quite a bit, but I won’t be chasing unruly little ones all day. As to my experience, we’ve had to be in the classroom 120 hours before student teaching; I’ve substituted quite a bit as well as taught summer school and tutored that age level. I am aware I will be on my feet practically all day and I do not plan on wearing heels. I can’t walk a straight line in those darn things, let alone maneuver a much larger version of myself through students doing labs. That would just be dangerous. If I have not already said this, I meant to, I am prepared to have marks taken off my grade for not wearing heels, hose, or skirts when the chair comes to evaluate me. I will be following the school’s dress code, and not the chair’s dress code for safety and comfort reasons.

ETA: I am glad that you pointed this out because a lot of college students do whatever the instructor tells them to do, and I appreciate the concern for my wellbeing and the students.
 
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