Yearlong Internship
Orientation for
Cooperating Teachers
A review of the Cooperating Teacher’s
role in the first-semester experience
What is the “yearlong
internship?”

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At UNC Charlotte, our
undergraduate students in most
content areas complete a twosemester field experience during
the senior year. The first semester
is called the “intern semester.”
The second semester is full-time
student teaching.
During the intern semester,
candidates are still full time
students at UNC Charlotte,
taking a full load of classes.
This presentation focuses on the
expectations for the “intern”
semester. Another, more detailed
orientation will be offered next
semester regarding the
candidate’s second semester, fulltime experience.
Requirements for interns
in the first semester
experience
The Student Teaching
Handbook
All interns are REQUIRED
to purchase a copy of the
Student Teaching Handbook
for their Cooperating Teachers
(CTs).
 Part 2 of the Student Teaching
Handbook applies to the
Yearlong Internship (YLI)
Semester – it begins on page
41.
 Responsibilities for the
Yearlong Intern, CT, and the
University are on pages 46-47.

Attendance

Attendance  expectation is
that the intern will come to the
classroom the equivalent of
one day per week.
◦ This can be broken down into
smaller increments as the intern’s
schedule permits, as long as the
overall hours are equivalent to one
day per week.
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Attendance should be recorded
on the Attendance Log found on
page 63.
Cooperating Teachers should
keep a copy along with the
interns.
Interns should communicate
immediately with their CTs if
they will not be able to attend
on a scheduled day.
 Any time missed should be
made up.
 Attendance schedules should be
determined in advance!!
 Interns will turn in a copy of the
attendance log to OFE at the
end of the semester.
 Interns are also required to
communicate regularly with OFE
and complete paperwork to
prepare for the full time student
teaching semester.

Clear Communication
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Clear and frequent
communication between the
Intern and the CT is VITAL for a
successful semester. It is the
intern’s responsibility to
inform the CT of changes to
the schedule!!
CTs and interns should arrange
to hold an initial planning
meeting early in the semester.
At the initial planning meeting,
interns should complete the
Data Form on page 53 and
exchange information with the
CT.
First Semester
Guidelines Checklist
A copy of the checklist is on
pages 55-57 (B-K version p. 59-61).
 Directions for completing each
section are on the checklist.
 After the intern completes a
task, the CT initials and dates to
verify.
 Interns turn in a copy of the
checklist to OFE at the end of
the semester.
 Note the last item in each
section is “CT request” …
interns are not limited to the
checklist!

Evaluation of the Intern
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Interns do NOT receive a grade
for the internship semester;
however, they are evaluated
twice by the CT.
At the midterm (early
March/October) and again at the
end of the semester, CTs will
receive via their school email a
link to the online evaluation of
their interns’ performance to
that point.
CTs should print and share the
results of the evaluation with
their interns.
All evaluations are reviewed by
OFE personnel; unsatisfactory
evaluations will be discussed
with individual interns.
Contact with OFE – by studentinterns
 Interns are required to send a
monthly paragraph update
to their OFE contact that
elaborates on the candidate’s
experiences in the classroom.
 Interns will be notified who
their OFE contact person is
within 2 weeks of orientation.
 All monthly paragraphs are due
by the 20th of each month.
Contact with OFE – by
Cooperating Teachers

The OFE contact for ALL
Cooperating Teachers is Dr.
Joyce Frazier, Director of Field
Experiences. Any CT who has
a concern about an intern’s
performance or a question
about the internship process is
encouraged to contact Dr.
Frazier as soon as possible.
◦ Phone: 704-687-8802 / 8807
◦ Email: jwfrazie@uncc.edu
Additional Information

The intern semester is intended
to be a precursor for the full
time student teaching semester.
Please provide the intern with
opportunities for meaningful
involvement in the classroom.
◦ Examples: teaching small lessons,
working directly with students,
participating in planning sessions,
evaluating work, attending staff
meetings, meeting colleagues, etc.

Please give the interns
constructive and meaningful
feedback regarding their work in
the classroom. Feedback is
critical! Interns cannot improve
without feedback on their
performance.
Professionalism is an expectation for all
College of Education teaching
candidates! This includes:
◦ Professional dress
◦ Professional behaviors (including
personal electronic use)
◦ Professional interactions with faculty
and students
 High School interns only: interns
may not teach Advanced Placement (AP)
classes during the full time student
teaching semester (it’s fine to work with
AP classes during the intern semester).
Interns may have to go to a different
teacher’s classroom during full time
student teaching for the AP class only.
Interns should contact OFE if their
teaching schedules include AP courses.

An honorarium is paid to the
Cooperating Teacher at the
end of the full time student
teaching semester. CTs will
receive more information
about this honorarium at the
CT Orientation next semester.
 A timeline for the two
semester experience
(including full time student
teaching) is found of page 50
(beginning August) or 51
(beginning January).

Questions or
Concerns?

Interns  Contact OFE
◦ Phone: 704-687-8802

Cooperating Teachers 
Contact Dr. Frazier (Director
of OFE)
◦ Phone: 704-687-8802 / 8807
◦ Email: jwfrazie@uncc.edu
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
Thank you for all you do in
helping us to prepare future
education professionals!!