EDU 657: Elementary School Practicum and Research Seminar

Practicum Assignment Descriptions

This course requires students to participate in a 100-hour practicum in an elementary school setting throughout the semester. During the placement, students will work collaboratively with the host teacher in the areas of planning, instruction, assessment and classroom management that will lead toward a clearer understanding of the role of the teacher and prepare students for the more intense student teacher semester.

This course requires students to complete various teaching assignments in a host classroom. The practicum assignments outlined below are listed in an order that is recommended that students follow; each assignment builds on the previous with a progression of skills that candidates gradually learn and implement to effectively plan for and teach elementary students. The following provides and outline of the assignments that need to be successfully completed to fulfill the practicum component of this course:

Students are required to teach at least 10 different lessons and one parent/guardian interaction including (but not limited to):

ü Teach and Reflect on One (1) Lesson that the Host Teacher Planned

It is beneficial for teacher candidates to observe in-service teachers and their students to practice identifying what teaching strategies work best to maximize students’ learning. To begin to learn how to effectively plan for teaching such lessons, it is often best to learn from others who do so. Therefore, for this portion of the practicum assignment, candidates will use a lesson plan that was written by his/her host teacher and use it to teach a group of students (one student or a small group of students).

Candidates are required to submit the following for this required portion of the practicum assignment:

q One copy of a lesson plan that the host teacher wrote.

q One reflection pertaining to the lesson plan, instruction and students’ learning that provides details describing what went well and what might be changed for subsequent lessons.

q Corresponding handouts and/or student work samples that were created, collected or copied for the lesson.

ü Teach and Reflect on One (1) Lesson that the Host Teacher AND Candidate Jointly Planned

Candidates benefit from having in-service teachers help them to learn how to write effective lesson plans. To fulfill this portion of the practicum assignment, candidates will jointly plan, independently teach and reflect on one lesson with a group of students (one student or a small group of students).

Candidates are required to submit the following for this required portion of the practicum assignment:

q One lesson plan that the host teacher and candidate jointly wrote.

q One reflection pertaining to the lesson plan, instruction and students’ learning that provides details describing what went well and what might be changed for subsequent lessons.

q Corresponding handouts and/or student work samples that were created, collected or copied for the lesson.

ü Plan, Teach, and Reflect on Four (4) One-on-One Tutorial Sessions

To prepare for each one-on-one tutorial session, candidates will observe elementary students to identify those who (1) have diverse needs and (2) would most benefit from one-on-one instruction. Then, candidates will write a lesson plan, teach and reflect on four (4) different one-on-one tutorial sessions. To benefit from this experience, it is suggested that students work one-on-one with elementary students who may be different than each other to gain a broader understanding of different learners that are often part of heterogeneous classrooms today. Students are encouraged to choose students who (1) have a disability; (2) are English language learners (ELL); or (3) are identified as a minority regarding SES.

Candidates are required to submit the following for this required portion of the practicum assignment:

q Four different lesson plans that the candidate wrote, identifying each student’s needs and desired student outcomes thoroughly.

q Four reflections for each lesson plan that the candidate wrote and taught, clearly identifying and describing what the candidate did, what went well with teaching AND student’s learning, and what might be changed for future lessons. It is important that specific examples of teaching and learning are cited throughout all reflections.

q Corresponding handouts and/or student work samples that were created, collected or copied for each lesson.

ü Plan, Teach and Reflect on Three (3) Small Group Lessons

To prepare for teaching three different small group instruction lessons, the candidates will discuss appropriate small group arrangements with his/her host teacher. Small groups may be arranged heterogeneously, homogeneously or randomly when identifying desired student outcomes and preparing to teach educational content. Determining grouping arrangements is an important component to effective planning because such arrangements can maximize student interaction and social learning. Therefore, students will need to observe and identify students who will be part of each small group instruction and be able to provide a rationale for why students were chosen for each small group. Once the elementary students are identified for each small group, the candidate will plan each of the three small group lessons. Candidates are encouraged to create and teach to a variety of different student grouping arrangements to better understand ways that students can benefit from each including: a heterogeneous group, a homogeneous group and a random group.

Candidates are required to submit the following for this required portion of the practicum assignment:

q Three different lesson plans that the candidate wrote, identifying and providing a rationale for each small grouping arrangement and desired student outcomes thoroughly.

q Three reflections for each lesson plan that the candidate wrote and taught, clearly identifying and describing what the candidate did, what went well with teaching AND student’s learning, and what might be changed for future lessons. It is important that specific examples of teaching and learning are cited throughout all reflections.

q Corresponding handouts and/or student work samples that were created, collected or copied for each lesson.

ü Plan, Teach and Reflect on One (1) Whole Group Lesson

It is important that candidates gain some experience interacting with a whole class of elementary students prior to their student teaching experience. Therefore, candidates are required to plan, teach and reflect on at least one (1) whole group lesson.

Candidates are required to submit the following for this required portion of the practicum assignment:

q One whole-group lesson plan that the candidate wrote.

q One reflection for this lesson plan that the candidate wrote and taught, clearly identifying and describing what the candidate did, what went well with teaching AND student’s learning, and what might be changed for future lessons. It is important that specific examples of teaching and learning are cited throughout all reflections.

q Corresponding handouts and/or student work samples that were created, collected or copied for each lesson.

ü Initiate and Reflect on at least One Parent/Guardian Interaction

Candidates are required to submit the following for this required portion of the practicum assignment:

q One written reflection that includes a description and analysis of at least one conversation between the candidate and at least one student’s parent/guardian.

As partial fulfillment of the requirements of this course, students must complete and submit ALL lesson plans and reflections listed above. Practicum teaching assignments that have been assigned in other MST classes can be used to fulfill these requirements. However, the reflections of these assignments must follow the guidelines mentioned above.

Satisfactory completion of the above assignments is worth 10 points of the overall course grade. All practicum assignments are graded on an Unsatisfactory/Satisfactory basis and may be revised if necessary to reach satisfactory progress. Practicum teaching and reflection assignments should be submitted when they are completed. However, it is important that the lessons and submissions are dispersed as evenly throughout the semester as possible. Submission dates are made at the discretion of the student. No practicum assignments will be accepted after December 6, 2006.