Student Teaching Information
Spring 2009
University Supervisor: Margaret Gessler Werts, Ph.D.
(828) 262-6365
wertsmg@appstate.edu
Address: Appalachian State University
Department of Language, Reading, and Exceptionalities
ASU Box 32085
Boone, NC 28608-2085
Fax: (828) 262-6767
Refer to your Student Teaching Handbook
(http://ced.appstate.edu/resources/documents/StudentTeaching_Handbook.pdf) for
specific policies, expectations, and general information. The following information
emphasizes several points that students generally have questions or concerns about. If
you have other questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
Attendance: You will follow the school, not the university calendar. There
are five days written into the calendar for sickness or other emergencies. It is your
responsibility to call your cooperating teacher as early as possible and notify
him/her that you will not be able to attend on that day. You also need to notify
your university supervisor (me) especially if I am scheduled to observe on that
day. If you are absent more than five days you will need to arrange with your
teacher and with me extended time to make up the days.
Just a word about timeliness: you are to be at school early! Teachers must be in
the building and at assigned posts (classrooms, bus drop off, lunchroom, gym,
etc.) before students arrive. This is planning and observation time. Be there.
Optional work days (in the event of snow cancellations) are not optional for you.
New teachers must build up time to have optional days. If there is a snow day,
you are to consider it as a work day unless your cooperating teacher informs you
differently. On delay days, you are to be at school at the regular arrival time. It is
not a delay for you. This is valuable planning time.
If it is necessary for you to be absent, call the school first, then your cooperating
teacher and then your university supervisor (me). All calls should be placed
before 7:00am.
Substituting: Some school districts may pay students to substitute for their
teachers and others do not. This is a local decision that is determined by your
principal and your cooperating teacher and your status as an approved substitute
teacher. Some principals may ask you to substitute for your cooperating teacher
and others may decide to hire a substitute while you are in attendance to be sure
that the class is legally covered. In any case, you are to remember the following
regulations of the university: If you substitute for pay, you may do so only in your
own classroom; and, no student teacher may substitute for pay or for no pay in the
first three weeks of student teaching. You may NOT substitute for another teacher
as part of your student teaching, even if you are in an inclusion program.
Teaching responsibilities: Consult the Student Teaching Handbook.
Typically student teachers will observe for the first few days and gradually take
over the cooperating teacher’s full load. Attend any meetings that your
cooperating teacher is required to attend. (e. g., faculty meetings, IEP meetings,
etc.) You are also to take any duties that your teacher is assigned—or that are
assigned to you. This includes bus duty, lunchroom duty, hall duty, and any
others. These are wonderful opportunities to see the students in environments
other than the classroom and can give you valuable insight.
Lesson planning. All lesson plans are to be approved by your cooperating
teacher before you teach. Please ask the teacher to initial the plans. Keep these in
a notebook for periodic review. I will need a copy of the lesson(s) you are
teaching when I observe. Use the form in the Student Teaching Handbook or the
form we learned in methods class. Please have them ready when I walk in the
door. Hopefully, we will be able to meet before you begin teaching. You will
need to arrange time for me to meet with you after the observed lesson. * Note—
If your lesson begins at a certain time and I am not there to observe, go ahead
with your lesson. Do not make the students sit and wait.
Journal. You are to keep a reflective journal of your experiences in student
teaching. You are to send me a copy of the journal once a week via email, U.S.
mail, or drop them off at my office. The journals are designed to assist you in
reflecting on your teaching. Your journal entries must be typed. General
guidelines for journal entries: Name, dates, lessons and events of the week,
reflection (What did I learn from this week’s lessons, activities? What would I do
again and why? What would I do differently and why?) You do not need to write
detailed descriptions about classroom experiences – the focus is on the reflection
of your teaching and experiences. You will ensure that I receive these by Monday
morning before your classes start. That will give you the weekend to finish
writing them. It is a good idea to write each day and then reflect at the end of the
week. You may send them on Friday afternoon.
Observations. When I receive your schedule, we will arrange times for
observations. The first visit will be informal (to meet and greet the cooperating
teacher and set up observations) the other five visits will be formal observations.
Evaluations. You will need to give your University Supervisor (me) a copy of
your mid-term evaluation. You will complete the midterm with your cooperating
teacher. Your final evaluation will be with you, your cooperating teacher, and the
University Supervisor.
Portfolios. Take this opportunity to add to your portfolios. Add lesson plans,
samples of student work, pictures of you teaching, bulletin boards, etc. You will
need an artifact to meet each of the state standards. The portfolio will be due at
the end of the semester. Artifacts can be from student teaching and any projects,
papers and tests from your other classes.
Enjoy and work hard. If I can be of any assistance to you do not hesitate to
contact me. Plan ahead and be prepared!
Assignments:
o Notebooks – You will need to keep a notebook for student teaching
which includes your daily schedule, daily lesson plans, weekly reflections,
summaries from meetings, and anything that you feel would be important.
This needs to be available for me to review each time I visit and it will be
turned in for review at the end of student teaching.
o Meetings – You will need to attend a minimum of three meetings. One
meeting must be an IEP meeting. The extent of your participation in the
IEP process will be determined by the cooperating teacher. The more you
can do to prepare for the IEP the better! The other two meetings can be
parent conferences, faculty meetings, or teacher workshops. For each
meeting you will write a one page summary to include in your notebook.
o A final written summary of the student teaching experience. See the
student teaching handbook for guidelines.
o Videotape of a lesson – You will need to videotape a lesson that you
teach and critique your lesson. You do not have to have students shown in
your video, however if you do, you will need to write a permission letter,
have it approved by your cooperating teacher and send it home with the
students for a parent signature. You can only show those students whose
permission letters are returned. You may choose to do one at the
beginning of student teaching and one towards the end to compare your
progress. You will need to arrange for the equipment from the school or
the ASU media center. You will also need to arrange a time to view the
tape with me. You will need to view it first and be ready to critique your
performance with me.
o Functional Behavior Assessment – You are to complete a functional
behavior assessment and create an intervention plan. The forms will be
those used in Classroom Management. You are to implement your
intervention plan and collect data.
o Review student IEP folders and write a one-page summary on each
student including the following:
Name, grade, age, disability label, general education teachers, annual
goals and objectives/benchmarks, modifications, and any other relevant
information should be included.
This will be due by the Friday of the first week of student teaching.
Student teaching is one of the most important aspects of your education at
Appalachian State University. I hope you will learn much and have a great
time. This is the beginning of your career!
Now a few of my suggestions:
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Introduce yourself to the principal and the secretary as soon as you get to school
on the first day. These are important people.
Jump in as soon as possible. The more time you have to work with students, the
more comfortable you will feel in any teaching situation.
Volunteer for jobs that you see in the classroom. Ask about volunteering for jobs
in the school.
Collaborate when writing your lesson plans. You will benefit from learning the
culture of the school. If you do inclusion programming, ask the general education
teacher to explain long term and short terms plans and objectives.
Listen carefully. There may be very good reasons for the manner in which things
are organized.
Read your student teaching handbook. There are forms and schedules to be
followed.
Contact information
Name
Current address
Current phone number
Cell phone number
School Name
School address
Cooperating teacher
Phone number for cooperating teacher