Student Teaching Contacts

Teachers selected for mentoring student teachers are professionals in whom the University has great confidence. You have been invited to participate in this endeavor because of your excellent professional record and because you have indicated an earnest desire to provide beginning teachers the best possible introduction to teaching. Illinois Wesleyan University is deeply grateful to you for your willingness to mentor our candidates.

Qualifications and Experience of Student Teachers

• Candidates admitted to student teaching have successfully completed the following prerequisites:
• A minimum of six courses in their major.
• Professional education coursework including Studying Children and Adolescents. Foundations of Education, and pedagogy courses in the content areas of certification.
• 3.0 Educational Studies, major, and general education grade point average.
• Passed the ISBE basic skills and Content Area Exams.
• Verified negative TB test.
• Demonstrated professionalism in the field (100 hours required): this includes communicative competence, punctuality, honesty, conscientiousness, dedication, responsibility, independence, initiative, ability to accept and act upon constructive criticism, preparedness, dependability, maturity, ability to maintain confidentiality and act with discretion, and respect for others and the profession.

Please note that in IWU’s program, content addressing technology and students with special needs are integrated into all education courses. Refer to our website, for detailed course descriptions.

Responsibilities of the Cooperating Teacher

We believe that becoming a teacher is a life long process which requires continual reflection. We ask, therefore, that cooperating teachers engage student teachers in ongoing discussion about their performance and ways to improve their practice. Moreover, we encourage you to communicate with the IWU supervisor about any significant success or challenges the student teacher is experiencing, and any concerns you may have.

Familiarize yourself with the responsibilities and expectations for student teachers outlined in the preceding pages of this handbook (pp. 18-22) so that you can collaborate effectively with your student teacher. The following guidelines may also be helpful:

1. The student teaching experience is most successful when the student teacher is accepted as a professional colleague. Please introduce the student teacher to your class(es) as a teacher, co-teacher, or team teacher.

2. Share your semester plans with the student teacher. Gradually induct the student teacher into full-time teaching. We suggest that the following tasks be assigned to students prior to their assuming full-time teaching responsibility:

• Keeping the room neat and arranging the room for class activities.
• Preparing seating charts and learning students’ names.
• Gathering resource materials and preparing teaching materials.
• Becoming familiar with instructional materials and equipment.
• Keeping records, recording grades.
• Observing your teaching strategies.
• Observing parent-teacher conferences.
• Visiting the school library and/or learning center.
• Assuming responsibility for bulletin boards.
• Taking attendance.
• Correcting papers.
• Conducting short class periods.
• Tutoring individual students.
• Working with small groups of students.
• Teaching a group or an entire class for two or three consecutive lessons in one subject.
• Independent planning and teaching of specific subjects or classes.
• Independent planning and teaching of a unit.
• Taking complete responsibility for a morning, an afternoon, and a day before assuming full-time responsibility.

3. Encourage the student teacher to become involved with students from the beginning of the term by systematically taking on teaching responsibilities.

4. Give the student teacher increasing responsibility as soon as he or she appears ready for it, but not at the expense of the students in your classroom(s).

5. Plan for the student teacher to become familiar with the total school environment. (see pp. 11-12)

6. Allow the student teacher to try new and creative ideas that seem appropriate. Assign extra-curricular activities as appropriate.

7. The student teacher will make the usual mistakes of the beginner. We ask that you help him or her understand his or her mistakes so he or she can learn from them. We also encourage you to share what you have learned from your experiences and mistakes.

8. The student teacher has had coursework in child and adolescent development; however, he or she will need help in applying developmental knowledge in the classroom.

9. The student teacher has had coursework in lesson and unit planning. These skills are in the formative stage, however, and he or she will need your assistance in the development and refinement of these skills.

10. The student teacher needs critical feedback on his or her teaching. On an ongoing basis, assess his or her teaching competencies. Meet regularly with the student teacher to discuss your observations and his or her self-assessments.

11. Discuss alternative approaches to different situations, allowing the student teacher to find his or her own way.

12. Communicate daily with the student teacher about classroom plans and assessment of classroom students’ achievements.

13. Discuss with the student teacher your own teaching philosophy and methods.

14. Leave the student teacher alone with the class only when you feel he or she is competent to assume this responsibility.

15. Be firm, honest, exact, and consistent in your directives and expectations. Consult with the IWU supervisor about any concerns or questions.

16. Evaluate the University supervisor. At the end of the semester you will be provided with a form to return to the Educational Studies Department.

The IWU supervisor makes six observations (for music majors, three in each of their experiences), the first of which is an introductory visit. The supervisor should confer with you, and assist in making the experience run smoothly. We urge you to be as candid as possible with the IWU supervisor, for if a problem of any kind exists, it is better for the student teacher if it is addressed directly and promptly. In this way, the student teacher will be offered maximum opportunity to improve during the semester.

We believe that student teachers should be given as much encouragement as possible. At the same time, if a student has been given a teaching assignment which he or she seems not able to handle or which seems undesirable for all involved, IWU Educational Studies faculty expect you to communicate this to us and to the student so that steps may be taken to rectify the situation. Occasionally, differences between a student teacher and a cooperating teacher may occur and these may become serious. When any differences cannot be reconciled, they should be brought to the attention of the IWU supervisor or the Chair of the Educational Studies Department at once. Any student who displays a lack of cooperation, indifference to his or her responsibilities, insolence, antagonism, or social-emotional disturbance also should be reported early. Although such occurrences are rare, you can count on the cooperation of Illinois Wesleyan University faculty to resolve any problems that might occur.

Evaluation

In addition to the informal regular conferences with the student teacher, cooperating teachers participate in a midterm and a final evaluation of the student teacher. Together, the cooperating teacher, university supervisor, and student teacher complete an assessment applying the criteria outlined by ISBE. During these evaluation sessions, the student teacher should be viewed as a beginning teacher, given specific, written feedback regarding present competencies, and offers guidance in areas requiring future growth. See the appendices for a sample evaluation form and criteria (p. 31). The evaluation form may also be accessed on-line at http://www.iwu.edu/~edstu

Letters of recommendation

Please write a letter of recommendation (on school stationery) for the student teacher. The certification process cannot be completed without this letter. Cooperating teachers’ letters of recommendation should be sent to the IWU Educational Studies office. Upon the student teacher’s request, they will be forward to the IWU Career Center.

You may find the general guidelines below helpful in writing this letter. Provide examples that illustrate and support the student’s competencies in the following areas drawn from the Illinois Professional Teaching Standards.

Planning for Instruction, Instructional Delivery, and Assessment: Discuss the student teacher’s ability to develop and implement lessons; his or her creativity and resourcefulness evidenced in the ability to plan for a range of individual differences (e.g., ability, backgrounds, interests); and his or her ability to adapt instructional methods and curriculum materials to the setting in which they are used.

Content Knowledge: Discuss the student teacher’s understanding of content taught at this particular grade level. Give examples of the student teacher’s particular strengths and weaknesses related to specific content areas.

Learning Environment and Relationships with Students: Discuss the student teacher’s ability to establish and maintain a classroom environment that facilitates instructional goals; his or her ability to respond appropriately to unpredictable events; his or her ability to set and enforce limits in a humanistic manner, and to communicate and empathize with students; and his or her awareness of academic, personal, and social characteristics of individual students.

Diversity and Communication: Describe the ways in which the student teacher displayed sensitivity toward individual differences (e.g., developmental, intellectual, cultural, social, gender, racial, and physical) within the classroom. Address the extent to which the student teacher demonstrated a willingness to assume an active role in facilitating students’ understandings of and respect for individual differences – through the use of teaching methods and materials and in his or her daily interactions. Discuss the student teacher’s communicative effectiveness with students and professional colleagues.

Collaboration, Professional Conduct, Professional Growth, and Reflection: Discuss the degree to which the student teacher demonstrated a willingness to take on responsibility and exercise initiative; the extent to which he or she followed through on commitments; and his or her ability to engage in reflection and self-evaluation.

Recognition of Services

Illinois Wesleyan University and the Educational Studies Department recognize the valuable role provided by cooperating teachers in the education of our candidates. As a token of our appreciation, at the end of the term a stipend check is paid to those teachers responsible for full-time supervision of a student teacher. In the case of two cooperating teachers sharing responsibility for a student teacher, each will receive payment consistent with the hours of service that have been rendered. In addition, cooperating teachers receive an Ames Library Card and an IWU ID Card which entitles you to discount tickets for theater productions, reduced admission to IWU athletic events, and use of the Shirk Athletic Center. You must go to the Security Office to get your photograph taken for the ID card.

Note: Payment cannot be made without the submission of the appropriate federal forms.