Clinical Practice Information for Students

General Teacher Candidate Responsibilities

• Regard yourself as a member of the cooperating teacher's team and perform such tasks as are necessary for the proper functioning of the classroom (always subject to the approval of the cooperating teacher.)
• Accept decisions of the cooperating teacher; keep in mind individual style and personality.
• Remember that the cooperating teacher is in legal control of the class and is legally responsible for it. A teacher candidate can assume no authority which has not been specifically delegated by the cooperating teacher.
• Dress, act, talk, and conduct yourself as a member of the teaching profession.
• Participate in open, honest, and regularly scheduled communication with the cooperating teacher and college supervisor.
• Practice acceptable professional relationships between students and yourself at all times.
• Attend faculty meetings and other professional meetings.
• Understand that involvement in extra-curricular school activities may be asked of you.
• Consider yourself to be a member of the community in which you are Clinical Practice, and conduct yourself as a professional, both in that community and apart from that community.
• Exhibit good moral character; maintain high standards of performance and promote equality.
• Follow the chain of communication: cooperating teacher and/or building administrator first, then college supervisor, then Academic Coordinator for Clinical Experience.
• Meet the assignment of the professional day unless prevented to do so by illness.
• Teacher candidate needs to be open to all feedback and guidance. Whether the teacher candidate is using the co-teaching model or the traditional model, there needs to be a level of respect and humility shown to the cooperating teacher. As the teacher candidate, you have been invited to come into this particular classroom and in the end, you want to be seen as a beneficial part of the learning environment and an asset for the students. You do not want to be seen as an additional burden for the cooperating teacher or school district. Thus, make yourself useful always and seek ways to help out. When in doubt ask, “Is there something else I can do to help you today?” Finally, materials will be provided in Canvas and during the seminars to all teacher candidates to work well with cooperating teachers. Use these materials and advice to build professional rapport with your cooperating teacher(s).

Teacher Candidate Responsibilities to the School District

• Become familiar with classroom locations, offices and storage areas.
• Learn building routines and policies.
• Review the responsibilities for safety and liability.
• Know tornado and fire exits and shelters and all emergency procedures.
• Know pertinent phone numbers, including school, cooperating teacher, college supervisor, and Wayne State College Field Experience Office.
• Know which equipment and teaching materials are accessible for your use and know where each is located.
• Meet as many staff members as possible.
• Make an effort to communicate with your principal. (It is recommended you set up a time during the semester to have the administrator evaluate your teaching.)
• Observe other classrooms outside your endorsement area and level. (It is recommended that you do this late in the semester, after you have phased out of some of your teaching responsibilities.)    

Teacher Candidate Responsibilities to the Classroom

• Recognize that your primary responsibility is to the students and understand that nothing in your personal life must interfere with carrying out this obligation.
• Participate in regular conferences with your cooperating teacher (download the Weekly Conference Form (PDF)). Talk to your cooperating teacher to determine the best time for such conversations. Regular communication is vital to this experience.
• Become acquainted with the scope and sequence of the content of your assignments.
• Develop a positive, respectful rapport with students; get to know their names immediately.
• Learn about students' special needs. Remember - absolute confidentiality must be maintained when using school or cooperating teacher's records.
• Be prepared to teach. Please refer to section on planning in this Handbook.
• Present lesson plans to your cooperating teacher at least two days before you plan to teach from them (to allow time for feedback and suggestions).
• Observe student behavior when you are not teaching, so you are able to anticipate behavioral problems and plan appropriate action.
• Utilize a variety of instructional methods in the classroom; adjust for various learning styles.
• Use audio-visual materials and modern forms of technology.
• Maintain appropriate records – stay current with your record keeping and assessment of grades.
• Evaluate student progress daily through observations, conferences, and other activities.
• Plan and arrange classroom displays.
• Provide lesson plans and materials to the cooperating teacher when you must be absent.
• Complete district responsibilities such as parent contacts, progress reports, and parent/teacher conferences.
• Familiarize yourself with the classroom emergency procedures.

Teacher Candidate Responsibilities in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment

Curriculum

• Follow all school and district guidelines. Any additional resources and materials should be first approved by your cooperating teacher prior to usage.
• Follow the district policies regarding state standards. For those teaching out of Nebraska, you are NOT expected to use Nebraska state standards during your clinical practice experience. Thus, if you are teaching in Iowa, you would be expected to use Iowa state standards as the basis for curriculum decision making.

Instruction

• Follow the school and district guidelines at the location where they are completing their clinical practice experience. With that in mind, we do recommend that all teacher candidates think through the instructional planning process when making decisions and planning units of study and daily lessons for students.

Instructional Planning Process

1. Goal: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely: What will be taught? What will the student know or be able to do? How will you communicate the goal to students? What standards and/or learning targets will ensure a focus on the learning goal?
2. Accessing Prior Knowledge: What will you do to access prior knowledge? What startegies will you use? Input mode? Output mode? Differentiate for ALL learners: Readiness, Interest, or Learning Profile
3. New Information - Content: What is new knowledge that students must learn to achieve the goal? What strategies will you use? Input mode? Output mode? Differentiate for ALL learners: Readiness, Interest, or Learning Profile
4. Apply Knowledge - Process: How will the learner make sense of the informaiton? What strategies will you use? Input mode? Output mode? Differentiate for ALL learners: Readiness, Interest, or Learning Profile
5. Goal Summary - Product: How will students summarize learning of the goal? How will you know that they met the learning goal? What strategies will you use? Input mode? Output mode? Differentiate for ALL learners: Readiness, Interest, or Learning Profile

The courses you have taken to prepare yourself for teaching have included many examples, ideas, and suggestions for how to plan for instruction. Select from those ideas; figure out how you can best meet the needs of your students. Remember to account for their prior knowledge as well as their level of capability and always try to include a variety of strategies in the lesson.

Finally, your cooperating teacher and college supervisor have the right to request for you to use any particular lesson plan format that they feel is most beneficial to your ability to effectively design lessons for your students. If there is any disagreement on lesson planning formats between the cooperating teacher and the college supervisor, the cooperating teacher has the final say in regards to the format that you are to use.

Lesson plans are NOT submitted to Canvas ever. Lesson plans should be available to the college supervisors always and should be provided to the cooperating teachers as requested. It is a best practice to have a lesson plan written for all lessons that you are teaching during clinical practice. This can be daunting if the lesson plans are very detailed so discussing options such as first creating a curriculum map and then writing simplified lesson plans is a technique you may want to utilize. It is expected that you help to plan units of study with your cooperating teacher and creating larger curriculum maps and unit plans would likely allow you to complete this task well.

Planning will always be an essential component of successful teaching, in all stages of one’s career. Regardless of experience (rookie or veteran), the ability to prepare good lessons and unit plans demonstrates an understanding of the concepts to be taught by the teacher and learned by the students. While it may take time to write a good plan, a written plan is still the best way for any teacher to prepare for everything that is needed for the lesson. For a teacher candidate, a written plan is also a tangible record from which cooperating teachers and college supervisors (and in some instances – principals) can evaluate preparedness and organization.