Clinical Practice Information for Supervisors

 

 

Welcome! The college supervisor serves the role of providing feedback and support to the teacher candidate and to connect the teacher candidate directly to WSC.

• Early Childhood Inclusive, Elementary, and Special Education teacher candidates will be assigned one college supervisor who will observe a minimum of five times.
• Middle Grades, Secondary, and K-12 teacher candidates in Health/PE, Music, or Art who is placed within the 150-mile radius will be assigned at least two college supervisors: one from the School of Education and Behavioral Sciences (education foundations), and one (or more) from the respective subject (content) area(s). The supervisors will work together as a team to ensure that the teacher candidate is observed a minimum of five times during the Clinical Practice semester. Generally, this means an initial visit and three observations by the foundation supervisor, and two observations by a member of the content faculty. Additional observations will be made whenever it is deemed necessary by the cooperating teacher, college supervisor, or Academic Coordinator.

Before You Meet

Some general responsibilities for the college supervisor include being willing to:

• Serve as a liaison between and among the teacher candidate, the cooperating teacher, building administrator, and the Academic Coordinator.
• Discuss respective responsibilities with all persons involved in the Clinical Practice experience and inform same of the college's objectives and philosophy concerning Clinical Practice.
• Provide teacher candidate, cooperating teacher, and other college supervisor(s) (when applicable) with your name, phone number, email address, and hours when you may be reached.
• Introduce yourself to the principal and from time to time inquire about his/her impression of the teacher candidate.
• Assist the teacher candidate and cooperating teacher in the planning and administration of the Clinical Practice assignment.
• Assist the cooperating teacher and teacher candidate in filling out required college forms.
• Participate in open, honest communication with the cooperating teacher and teacher candidate.
• Assist the cooperating teacher in the supervision and evaluation process.
• Review requirements and see that college standards and state regulations are being met.
• Make sufficient visits to each teacher candidate to insure adequate supervision and evaluation.
• Complete appropriate evaluations of the teacher candidate.

Please familiarize yourself with the section of this handbook that describes the supervision of a struggling student teacher and outlines the steps involved in removing a student teacher from the student teaching placement.

The First Meeting

College supervisors should conduct a first on sight visit in which they are to:

• Ensure that all contact information (email address, phone number, etc.) is accurate.
• Review the Timeline activity (officially the Timeline for Assuming Clinical Practice Responsibilities). Make suggestions and suggestions if necessary.
• Review and discuss all of the requirements for the teacher candidate and explain how you want the journal correspondence to be conducted
• Discuss lesson planning and what you expect to see when you come to observe a lesson. Where should the lesson plans be located and how detailed should they be. Also, discuss if you want lesson plans sent to you before the observation.
• Review the policies and protocol for absences.
• Discuss the evaluation forms you will be using during observations and what you will be looking for when observing. Ask the teacher candidate for input regarding any teaching competencies and qualities that he/she would like you to focus on during observations.
• Tell the teacher candidate how much time you will spend during each visit or observation and what will take place; make a tentative schedule for when you will make observations.
• Allow time to meet with the cooperating teacher to remind him/her of requirements and responsibilities.
• Be sure to ask the teacher candidate and cooperating teacher if they have any questions.
• Allow time to introduce yourself to the building administrator and to answer any questions.

Suggested Timeline for Supervision

Regardless of the purpose for being on-site, all dates should be scheduled in advance to ensure that the teacher candidate is prepared, school is in session, and pupils will not be gone for an assembly or field trip. Please maintain regular communication with the other college supervisor so that dates are appropriately spaced to provide maximum support for the teacher candidate. Everyone has a busy schedule; please work together on this aspect of supervision.

Each teacher candidate and situation is unique, so the following schedule should be used as a guide only. All elementary supervision will be done by one supervisor, but the suggested time frame should remain the same. Most teacher candidates need more support during the first few weeks as they make the transition to their new responsibilities. You should adjust the observations according to the needs of the teacher candidate. Remember: the cooperating teacher is on-site everyday with the teacher candidate and can alert supervisors or the Academic Coordinator of any concerns that may come up in between scheduled observations by the supervisors.

The college supervisor(s) will maintain regular email contact with each other, the teacher candidate and cooperating teacher throughout the semester.

Observation Techniques

The Clinical Practice experience is designed to be a growth experience; the primary players in this experience are the teacher candidate, cooperating teacher and the college supervisor. Through the use of formal and informal observation, on-going communication that includes suggestions and encouragement, and personal reflection, teacher candidates should show growth from the beginning to the end of the experience. Here are some helpful tips in making that happen:

1. Use a variety of data collection tools to collect objective data (e.g. video, lesson plans, observation, etc.).
2. Feedback should be as specific and objective as possible. Taking notes during an observation is highly recommended.
3. Clearly define one or two purposes for each observation (e.g. pacing of lesson and follow through, student participation, positive reinforcement, subject content.)
4. Use the following criteria to limit the number of concerns addressed at one time:
   - impact on the teacher candidate’s physical/emotional well being
   - impact on the pupils’ learning
   - your perception of the teacher candidate’s ability to make changes
5. All observations should be followed by a conference before leaving.
6. During the early weeks of the experience, emphasize “growth not perfection.” Give frequent supportive feedback. Provide specific examples/suggestions.
7. Use self-disclosure to give examples of your own funny or unsuccessful experiences.
8. When a teacher candidate identifies a concern, assist in clearly defining the concern and encourage the teacher candidate to reconcile the matter. Offer suggestions.
9. Recognize that pupils’ responses are indicators of teacher effectiveness. Use comments such as: pupils appeared bored, restless, are engaged and/or actively involved in learning, etc.
10. Substantiate your comments with specific data and utilize as many examples as possible.
11. Look for patterns in teaching behavior. Critical judgment should be followed with specific suggestions for improvement and strategies for analyzing the effect on the behavior. The major function of supervision is to upgrade teacher effectiveness.
12. Emphasize the continuing aspect of self-evaluation and reflection by relating present remarks to past observations and providing a foundation for future observations.
13. All observation conferences should end on a positive note with a summary of current strengths and a plan for action for future attention.