DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION - College of Saint Benedict and ...



GUIDELINES FOR ELEMENTARY TEACHER CANDIDATES

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

College of Saint Benedict/Saint John's University

LESSON PLANS AND TEACHING REQUIREMENTS

1. Lesson Plan Format:

Use the Lesson Plan Format provided by the college for the daily preparation of classes.

• Submit lesson plans to your cooperating teacher TWENTY-FOUR HOURS before they are to be used. (Earlier if cooperating teacher requests them.) Use the yellow folder provided.

You need to provide a paper copy; do not rely on electronic transmission.

• If a plan is not handed in on time, you will not be permitted to teach the particular lesson for which the plan was late.

• Teaching manuals and plans for the next teaching day should be left in school. (Example: Before leaving for Thanksgiving break, Monday’s plan should be given to cooperating teacher.)

• Failure to provide complete lesson plans on time may constitute cause for removal from the student teaching program. Your cooperating teacher cannot give permission for incomplete lesson plans. Computer failure will not be accepted as a valid excuse for late plans.

2. Primary Experience:

During your primary experience, take the responsibility for teaching in EVERY area of the curriculum. You do not need to teach in the area taught by a specialist. However, you are expected to include music, art and physical education in your other plans.

3. Middle Level Experience:

During your middle level experience:

• If teaching on 7th or 8th grade level, you can only to teach in your specialty area.

• If teaching on 5th or 6th grade level, you may need to teach in all subject areas except music, art, and physical education. However, if your cooperating teacher teaches art, music, or physical education, then you are also expected to do so.

4. Teaching Religion:

Teacher candidates who are teaching in Catholic schools will not teach religion classes or

plan liturgies. An exception to this must be approved by the Director of Elementary Student Teachers.

5. Observing your cooperating teacher:

When your cooperating teacher is teaching, you may observe, take notes related to the observation, assist your teacher or individual students. DO NOT write lesson plans or work on your own tasks during this time.

6. Written assignments:

It is important that you pace yourself so that you can complete assignments on time.

If you are not able to complete something on time, you are expected to communicate this

with your supervisor and negotiate a time when you will complete it.

You may share ideas and resources with others, but all written work for student teaching is to be

completed individually. Cite references for everything that is not your own writing.

PROFESSIONAL ATTENDANCE

1. Attendance at events within your school:

Daily presence during your student teaching assignment is required. You are required to attend school activities such as faculty and department meetings, workshops, PTA meetings, staffings and ALL parent-teacher conferences. If your cooperating teacher suggests that your attendance would be inappropriate at any of these events, please contact your supervisor before the event occurs.

2. Before and after school:

Follow the professional teachers’ school hours as indicated in their school handbook. Avoid using the time before school starts for your own tasks. This is an important time to spend with students and parents. Make sure you are arriving at or before the time that teachers are required to be present. You are also required to stay after school as least as long as your school policy indicates…even if your cooperating teacher arrives later or leaves earlier. This applies for your entire student teaching experience. During full time teaching, you are totally responsible for supervision of students.

3. Advice:

Invest in this experience with the commitment you would make to a professional job. For example:

*Do more than is expected or asked.

*Use many of your own ideas…don’t simply rely on the manual or follow the same routine every day.

*Come early and stay late.

*Don’t ask for a day off unless the need is extreme.

4. Attendance at student teaching in-service meetings is mandatory. Do not plan other appointments which would require you to miss any part of the in-service. Professional behavior at these meetings is an expectation. Dress may be casual and must be modest. No caps, please.

5. Absences for illness or emergency situations:

Absences are ordinarily permitted only for illness or emergency situations.

Procedure for notification of absence: Before the school day begins, notify the principal

(if appropriate), your cooperating teacher, and your CSB/SJU supervisor of absences for reasons of illness or family emergency. Make sure you are notifying your cooperating teacher the way that

he or she prefers. If you are absent for consecutive days, you need to notify your cooperating teacher,

CSB/SJU supervisor and principal each morning.

BE SURE YOUR LESSON PLANS AND MANUALS ARE AT SCHOOL. IF THESE ARE

NOT IN SCHOOL, YOU NEED TO GET THEM TO SCHOOL BEFORE THE SCHOOL DAY

BEGINS.

For illness: You may be asked to provide a note from your doctor.

6. Absences for other reasons

Missing a day of school or workshop or parent conferences for reasons other than illness or emergency can be problematic. It can communicate a lack of commitment to the profession, a lack of interest in learning, and a poor work ethic. You are not “entitled” to a day off. ONLY THE DIRECTOR OF STUDENT TEACHING CAN GRANT PERMISSION FOR THIS. If you are going to make such a request, involve the Director in the decision process early to ask for permission. An unexcused absence will be made up.

My initial knowledge of this request should not be an email notifying me that you have all arrangements made to be absent. Permission for this will be valid only when I have put it in writing. (Don’t assume permission during an oral discussion. If you wish to speak to me about a request, set up an appointment; please don’t approach me on an in-service meeting.)

Funerals:

Immediate family: handled on an individual basis

Grandparents: day of funeral only

Other: considered an exception

Related Information

After missing three days for any excused reason(s), you will need to make up additional days off. This includes in-service days, conferences, and student contact days. The dates that these days will be made up will be at the discretion of the Director of Student Teaching.

All unexcused absences will be made up.

After missing five days of school (includes all mandatory attendance days), you may need to repeat part or all of your student teaching.

An unexcused absence is:

*absence from any required student teaching event without permission from the Director of Student

Teaching

*failure to properly report a day missed for illness or emergency

*dishonest reporting of an absence

Contact:

For illness and emergency: your immediate supervisor

For funerals and all other reasons: The Director of Student Teaching

School calendars vary.

You may be in a school which has more or fewer days of school than other student teachers. Some schools have a spring break; some don’t. Some schools have a longer weekend break over Easter than others. Some schools will have more workshops than others. Some schools will have evening PTA meetings or other parent nights. Schools may close down for snow storms, ice storms, cold or fog. You will follow the calendar of the school in which you are student teaching.

Job Fair:

You may attend the job fair for teachers which is sponsored by the Career Services Department.

If you choose not to attend the job fair, you need to be present at your school.

7. Observations on the primary level:

During Week 8 of your primary experience, you will be expected to teach half time and observe in other classrooms half time. You may spend one day in another school if you clear it with your supervisor. On days you are not observing in another classroom, you need to be teaching or assisting in your classroom where you have been student teaching.

8. Observations on the middle level:

During your middle level experience, you can observe in your own classroom and in the classrooms of other teachers in the building during the first or last week (not both) of your student teaching. With your cooperating teacher, determine which is the better option.

9. Schedule for Observations by Supervisor:

Email your schedule (of classes you are teaching) to your supervisor by Thursday morning.

List observable classes only. Contact you supervisor if your schedule might be late.

List: *beginning time *ending time *subject Don’t simply say “first hour”…

(You do not need to send a schedule for your first week in each classroom.)

Use the list form (rather than a paragraph) as shown in the example. If you need to explain something, do that next to the subject.

An observable class does NOT include:

*a test, movie, speaker or small group work that takes up most of the class period

*a class in which you are tutoring a very small group for the whole period

*your video taped assignment *an opening routine which is the same every day

*student presentations the whole class period *students working on computers the whole period

Example:

Monday: 8:00-8:30 Math: an introduction to my unit

10:30-11:30 Language Arts: I will teach first half; teacher will teach last half

Tuesday: 10:30-11:30 Language Arts

1:30-2:00 Science

Your supervisor is trying to set up a calendar for the whole week. We need to coordinate all of our other appointments. If we need to wait for your information, it may cause difficulties for other people.

List all observable classes…not “email back if you need more times”.

10. Professional Dress:

Women: Suggested: dress, skirt and blouse, dress pants and top, comfortable dress shoes

Do not wear: short skirts and dresses, skirts/dresses with high splits, revealing tops

Men: Suggested: dress pants, shirt, tie, comfortable dress shoes

Everyone: Do not wear: hats, caps, fragrances, hip-hugger style pants, flip/flops, bare feet, sweatshirts/sweatsuits, t-shirts/sleeveless tops, midriffs and chests showing, skin below waist showing when bending over, shorts, undergarments that show, see-through clothing, jeans, overalls, body piercing in locations other than ears, tennis shoes, unusual hair colorings

Exceptions: You may wear jeans and tennis shoes for appropriate events: *physical education class

*field trips, “blue jean Friday”

These jeans should not look faded or be torn. Tennis shoes should be clean and in

good condition.

Keep in mind: First impressions are formed quickly and often based on externals. There is no right or wrong to this; it just is. Some won’t care what you wear; others will. This could be a stumbling block for you as you try to establish yourself as a professional teacher, rather than a buddy, a student or an assistant. You are also representing The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University.

ADVICE

1. In the absence of the cooperating teacher, you may assume the duties of the cooperating teacher, but a substitute must be present in the room. If this happens early in your experience, be careful not to assume responsibilities for which you are not comfortable. You can say that you need to speak with your supervisor before you do this. Student teachers are not to receive any monetary reimbursement for their teaching services.

2. Minnesota Law

Keep in mind that as a student teacher you are subject to the school laws of Minnesota and to the

policies of the local school board.

Prior to your first day of teaching, make certain that you have professional liability protection in the

form of membership in a recognized teacher professional organization. Evidence of this must be on

file in the Education Department.

General

1. During student teaching, you are to free yourself from all college campus responsibilities. You may not

be enrolled in any other college course. You may not be employed as dormitory resident assistants.

You may not participate in ROTC activities.

2. Upon successful completion of your student teaching and all other requirements, you will be eligible to

apply for a Minnesota teaching license. It is imperative that you relate to your cooperating teachers,

your students, your supervisors and your peers in a professional manner at all times.

3. It is your responsibility to seek advice and consultation from the educational professionals who mentor

and supervise your experience this semester as you prepare to enter the teaching profession. Seek to

resolve issues on the strength of your best professional judgment, the advice of licensed teachers and

your knowledge. Involving your parents on this level is considered unprofessional.

4. Following best practices in teaching, you may not use candy or other food for teaching or for

rewards. (Some children are allergic to certain foods, schools are emphasizing good nutrition, and it is

not desirable to have children view food as a reward.

Likewise, competition in academic activities is discouraged. It contributes to unproductive feelings of anxiety, often emphasizes lower level skills and often contributes to uncooperative efforts.

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