Before You Start
Congratulations to all teacher candidates for reaching this milestone in your educational journey. You have reached the final step in becoming an educator, and it is our hope at WSC that this semester is a rewarding experience.
Your professionalism and overall attitude this semester is crucial for your success and in launching your teaching career. Each day is a new opportunity for you to put your best foot forward, demonstrate excellence, and teach with passion. At this point, you should be ready to display dispositions that represent the teaching profession well, utilize your rich content knowledge, and use best teaching practices to ensure that the children you are teaching receive the best possible education. As you read through this section, please note any questions or concerns that you may have and reach out to the Academic Coordinator for Clinical Practices as needed.
Fundamentally, the teacher candidate has a dual role that takes place every day he or she enters the school environment:
- Professional: First, the teacher candidate is to be a professional and a representative of WSC. Thus, following all school and district guidelines is fully expected and demonstrating professional demeanor is essential.
- Learner: Second, the teacher candidate should fully see themselves as a learner and open for feedback from all. This often will be from the cooperating teacher(s) and college supervisor(s) but can also come from the school administrator(s), parents, and of course, students. Be open for ways to improve in all areas and know that the clinical practice experience is both a finish line at the end of your college experience and a starting point in your teaching career. Every day should be seen as a chance to show your expertise while being open to changing practices as needed.
This is a difficult balancing act and one that takes both humility and confidence.
Orientation and Seminars
WSC’s Education Preparation Program believes that the final semester for a student is a critical capstone to the learning that has taken places previously. This means that the faculty and staff within the School of Education and Behavioral Sciences at WSC are dedicated to helping all teacher candidates be successful in this final endeavor. The planned orientation and seminars are designed to benefit the teacher candidate and his or her journey. They are required to attend as part of the course expectations. If the teacher candidate is unable to attend any particular seminar, they are to contact the Academic Coordinator for Clinical Experiences beforehand to discuss the reason. Orientation is always scheduled in April or November the semester before you start your clinical practice.
In addition, clinical practice is an experience that works within the timeframes of two separate entities: the local school district and Wayne State College. Neither of these entities will necessarily have the same start/stop dates and breaks so partnerships must pay attention to both calendars when creating a timeline for assuming responsibilities.
Thus, it is the responsibility of the teacher candidate to plan their lives accordingly to be able to attend all school days within the school district where they are completing their clinical practice. In addition, they need to plan accordingly to attend the required WSC clinical practice seminar events. Avoid planning any vacations or other major events during clinical practice. You will likely begin your clinical practice experience at least a week before WSC resumes classes for the semester.
In regard to the required seminars, the dates, times, and locations will be announced via email, posted in Canvas and listed in the course syllabus.
Here are the seminar topics:
- Seminar I: Clinical Practice Orientation
- Seminar II: Successfully Starting Your Journey
- Seminar III: Reflecting on the Journey So Far
- Seminar IV: Finishing Your Journey
Code of Ethics
The Nebraska Professional Practices Commission has established a Code of Ethics for the Teaching Profession (February 1996). With this in mind, a Student Code of Ethics for the WSC School of Education and Behavioral Sciences was developed. It is the expectation of the faculty that teacher candidates will uphold this code throughout their Clinical Practice experience.
View the code of ethics for teacher candidates
Background check for teacher candidates
All education majors must complete an initial background screening prior to being placed for any field experiences. Information (including the name of the company that completes the screening and fee paid by the student) is provided in Anthology Portfolio.