RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE
TEACHER CANDIDATE
Success in student teaching depends upon the willingness and ability of the teaching candidate to meet new and challenging responsibilities. Student teaching deserves one’s best effort, interest, and enthusiasm. Below are listed guidelines and requirements.
The established arrival and departure times and vacation days (including spring break) the school administration has established for teachers must be observed. If illness or a family emergency necessitates absence, the cooperating teacher, university supervisor and Director of Education Clinical Practice must be notified by at least 8:00 AM or before the beginning of school.
Link for Teaching Candidate Digital Handbook
http://cas.bethel.edu/academics/departments/education/clinical-practice
Personal Considerations:
Student teaching must be top priority. Extra-curricular activities and work must be limited to allow for adequate time for student teaching. Teachers often use evening hours to grade papers and prepare. If work and extra-curricular activities are not allowing time to adequately prepare, adjustments must be made.
Student teacher candidates should be:
Warm, friendly, and courteous to students, faculty and staff members within the school.
Use confidentiality and ethical practices in all relationships and remarks—even in the university dorms and teachers’ workroom/lunchroom.
Careful in discussing the methods of other teachers.
Careful in discussing students and classes if it is not for a professional purpose. It is not acceptable to vent frustration about students or professionals.
Neat and well groomed.
Dressed in a professional manner.
Teaching requires skill in relating to a number of different groups. Developing good relationships with other teachers, school administration, school staff, students and parents is important to having a successful student teaching experience. In order to foster good relationships within a school, the student teacher candidate must:
Give courteous cooperation to the classroom teacher.
Quickly learn the established routines and rules, such as lunchroom procedure, fire drills, dismissal, lockdowns and evacuation drills, etc.
Become acquainted with the materials and the content that has already been covered.
Learn about the school’s practices and regulations regarding: audio-visual aids (regulations regarding movies), library and classroom supplies, photocopying, interactive whiteboards, document cameras, email, etc.
Assist with the responsibility of keeping the classroom attractive and comfortable. Look for what needs to be done and clean up after lessons.
Ask for suggestions and implement what has been suggested.
Confer with the cooperating teacher and university supervisors regularly.
Become involved in the life of the entire school. Help with student council, coaching, lunch duty, program practices, concerts, drama productions etc.
Attend all faculty meetings and professional organization meetings.
Initial Contacts:
Initiate contact with cooperating teacher several weeks before placement begins–either through email or in person. Ask your teachers if a visit prior to beginning is appreciated. Ask questions about first day expectations – time to arrive, security badge, how to help, the amount of initiative that is appreciated, etc.
Personally introduce yourself to the principal during first week of school.
Preplanning:
Plan a term overview (Term Overview form found in digital handbook) for your student teaching placement with the cooperating teacher. Also, fill out a Classroom Master Schedule form (found in the digital handbook) or use one the teacher provides to you. Give a copy of this to your university supervisor.
Discuss with the cooperating teacher the lesson plan expectations (Individual lesson plans forms can be found in the digital handbook). Full lesson plans are required of you for each subject area until your supervisor changes this expectations.
Maintain your Teaching Binder and have it available for your supervisor to see each time they come for a school visit.
Observations:
Observations of Classroom Customs, Observations of Planning Lessons and Observations of Students (all three forms found in the digital handbook) should be completed and turned in to supervisor by the second week of student teaching.
The teacher candidate should gradually take full control of the classroom. The timetable will vary with the individual teaching candidate and whether or not the teaching candidate is following the co-teaching model. Full-time/co-teaching teaching requirements are as follows:
A minimum of two to three weeks in a seven-week placement
A minimum of four weeks in a ten-week placement
A minimum of five weeks in a fourteen-week placement
Lessons should be supplemented with outside sources (people, books, materials) - it is not enough to read the text and discuss it
Self-evaluation/reflection of teaching a necessary and required
The following are also good questions to ask during your post lesson reflections and in your daily journal writing.
Was lesson preparation adequate?
How was the management of students and materials?
Did learning take place?
How were my questioning techniques?
What type of differentiation was used? Could I have used more? How?
Were students engaged in the learning process? How do I know?
What type of assessment was used to measure this?
What would I do differently next time?
How does this information affect my “next steps”?
Lesson Planning:
When planning a lesson the teacher candidate should ask for input from the cooperating teacher. Final lesson plans must be reviewed with the cooperating teacher at least 24 - 48 hours prior to teaching the lesson. Students should not be penalized due to the lack of preparation on the part of the teacher candidate. Lessons plans are to be printed and filed into the student teaching binder by week. The lesson being taught while being observed should be open for the cooperating teacher and/or supervisor to view during the observation. All lesson plans should include:
Identifying specific and measureable goals and objectives
Content to be taught
Materials to be used
Methods to be used in presenting the lesson
Plan for assessment of learning
What differentiation techniques/approaches will be implemented
Closure
Lesson Plan Reflections:
Handwritten or typed reflections must be written following each lesson.
Reflections should include:
What went well?
What could have been changed or done differently?
Did you achieve your objective? How did you measure that achievement?
Journaling:
Keep an electronic daily journal of your student teaching experience. Some supervisors may ask for you to complete a hard copy of your journal. This expectation is to be decided between you and your supervisor.
The previous week’s journal should be sent to supervisor by Saturday at 5:00pm along with the up coming week’s teaching schedule (Weekly Teaching Schedule can be found online).
The journal should not be simply a sequential account of the day’s events. It should contain reflections about insights, acquired skills, problems, success, understandings, etc. from the week’s teaching. Be specific. This is an opportunity to practice self-analysis in such areas as relationships with students, cooperating teachers, personal planning goals, etc.
A list of sample questions is listed above. By no means is this an exhaustive list-merely a place to begin.
E-folio
Foundational Standards will be required of you during your student teaching experience. The education department faculty will specify the details of these expectations to you.
edTPA
Discuss and collect (if needed) student permission slips for video consent forms.
Follow the due dates and expectations assigned by the education department faculty.
Mid and Final Evaluation
K-8 Mid-Term Rubric Evaluation and Final Rubric Evaluation (both found online) should be filled out prior to meeting with cooperating teacher and supervisor. If possible, Mid-Term Rubric should be filled out prior to full time teaching.
Education Seminar
The teacher candidate is expected to attend and participate in the Student Teaching Education Seminar. Attendance at seminars is required. There is one (1) credit attached to this seminar. This one (1) credit seminar is part of the total 15 credits attached to student teaching and required for graduation. Teacher Candidates should plan to attend and actively participate in each scheduled seminar. Please see the CAS Education Moodle site for dates, times and requirements.
Other Professional Tasks
If it seems appropriate, a teacher candidate is strongly encouraged to invite the school principal to observe a lesson and write a letter of recommendation.
The teacher candidate must apply for graduation through the Office of the Registrar, and apply for licensure through the Education Department. Teacher Candidates are not automatically granted a teaching license with a degree. A seminar regarding license application and fingerprinting will be scheduled—see CAS Education Moodle site for dates/times/location.
A teaching license will only be granted after;
Graduation requirements are completed
Successfully passing the appropriate Minnesota Teacher Licensure Exams (MTLE) (MTLE can be found at http://www.mtle.nesinc.com/)
edTPA (Education Teacher Performance Assessment) is successfully completed/submitted
Required Foundational Standards and e-folio requirements are completed and passed
9 RESPONSIBILITIES AND PROCEDURES FOR MANAGEMENT RESPONSES AND FOLLOWUP
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES OF CLIENT AND PERSON LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE
ANNEX A 20092010 RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE KINSHIP REGIONAL AGENCY
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