Revised August, 2011

REALIZING THE DEMOCRATIC IDEAL

TEACHER EDUCATION AT ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY

BUSINESS TEACHER EDUCATION STUDENT TEACHING
STT 399.05 (Sections 01 and 02)

12 Semester Hours Total

I. PROGRAM COORDINATOR

Name:	Dr. Glenn Bailey
Office location:	State Farm Hall of Business, Room 348
Office Hours:	E-mail for a meeting appointment
Telepyone	309 438 3959
E-mail	gabaile@ilstu.edu
Web page	http://www.cob2ilstu.edu/gabaile

II. DESCRIPTION

Student teaching provides the last, best opportunity for students to learn about the process of business teaching before setting out on their professional careers. This is a time for students to learn and apply what they know about business teaching. This opportunity will provide students a chance to hone new approaches in a real classroom setting. Students will reflect upon and learn from their experiences. The cooperating mentor teacher and University supervisor will provide additional insights. Student teachers will prepare a standards-based professional portfolio which is due; at the end of the student teaching experience. The portfolio will be posted to LiveText.

III. VISITATION DAYS/TIMES

Each student teacher will be working with a cooperating mentor teacher on a:daily basis for approximately six weeks for the elementary/middle level setting and eleven weeks for the high school setting. The University supervisor will make on-site visits on an average of once every two weeks throughout the student teaching practicum. These visits will he pre-announced. During these visits the University supervisor will perform formative evaluations of the student teacher and will meet privately and jointly with the student teacher and cooperating mentor teacher.

IV. OBJECTIVES

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The objectives of student teaching are aligned with standards delineated by the National Association of Business Teacher Educators and Illinois State board of Education. Successful student teaching experiences will ensure that prospective business teachers:

• Possess and can demonstrate a knowledge and conceptual understanding of business theory and practice to develop literacy of students;
• Are able to select, design, and incorporate business inquiry into classroom instruction;
• Can relate business and computer technology to everyday life in a manner appropriate to the interests and level of students and subject being taught;
• Are knowledgeable about the values, beliefs and assumptions inherent to business knowledge and the generation and use of knowledge within the business community;
• Can experiment with methods, reflect upon outcomes and revise teaching practices based upon knowledge of student needs, successful experiences, goals and practices advocated by the business education profession, and the results of research on effective teaching;
• Can implement a quality business curriculum, and understand and apply the recommendations of national, state, or local standards and curriculum frameworks for business education in planning the business program and selecting instructional materials;
• Can use family and community resources to further the goals of business education;
• Understand and practice teaching as an act extending beyond the classroom, taking initiative in planning, developing and leading business education activities in the schools, community and profession;
• Can create learning opportunities for all students to derive meaning from business instruction that are based on current research on teaching and learning, and on national goals for business education;
• Can design and manage learning environments with the time, space, and resources needed for teaching learning business; and
• Can use authentic and equitable assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure continuous intellectual, social, and personal development of the learning in all aspects of business.

V. METHODOLOGY

The 12 semester-hour student teaching experience consists of a 5 semester-hour section and a 7 semester-hour section. Five semester hours of credit are associated with the elementary/middle level teaching experience, and 7 semester hours are associated with the high school experience.

Elementary/Middle Level Component:

In the elementary setting the first week is usually devoted to observation and aiding the mentor teacher. Time should be set aside during the first week or two when each student teacher and mentor can discuss successful teaching strategies which were demonstrated by the mentor. During the second and third weeks, student teachers form a routine of teaching and aiding activity. The University supervisor may observe their work with students and staff. A mid-term evaluation will be completed near the end of the third week. Completed forms should be delivered to the cooperating teacher and the supervisor weekly.

During the fourth and fifth weeks, student teachers will continue their teaching routine and aiding activities. They may also expand some of their duties to include conducting a staff development workshop for teachers on a skill or topic. The University supervisor will visit to conduct some additional observations and follow up on the mid-term evaluation.

During the fifth and sixth weeks, student teachers will conclude their experience. The student teachers will need to complete and report a minimum of 200 hours of clinical work. The final evaluation form will be completed. Each student teacher, their cooperate ng mentor, and the University supervisor will discuss progress and accomplishments.

High School Component:

During the high school component, each student teacher will be inducted into the teaching process. Time should be set aside during the first week or two when each student teacher and mentor can discuss successful teaching strategies which were demonstrated by the mentor. The student teacher should spend the first week becoming oriented to the school setting and observing the mentor teacher. By the second week, the student teacher should begin to teach one or two classes. With the passage of time, teaching in the high school experience should become a greater emphasis. By the third or fourth week, the student should be teaching full time. The student teacher should be responsible for teaching and evaluating four classes with two prep periods, one of which could be used to observe other teachers. During the last week of the practicum, student teachers should be planning for the transition of their classes back to their mentors.

Each student teacher is required to prepare a standards-based professional portfolio. Two days during the semester are set aside for student teachers to work on their portfolios outside of their student teaching settings. One of these days should be during the elementary/middle level experience and the other should be during the high school experience. These portfolio days may be used for illness, but you will be expected to create the portfolio on time away from school. Excessive absences may require that you spend extra time at the end of the semester at the location where the days were missed.

Documentation:

Each part of the student teaching experience must be fully documented, and the student teacher will complete four forms, three of them weekly. All forms should be mailed to the University supervisor. They may be faxed or e-mailed with supervisor approval. Original, signed forms will be examined on the next visit for forms which were sent without signatures as e-mail attachments. These forms are available on line at http://www2.cob.ilstu.edu/gabaile.

1. Student Teacher Information Sheet (sent once at beginning of each placement) supplies the cooperating and supervising teacher with demographic data.

2. The Weekly Schedule Sheet provides the University supervisor with pertinent data regarding school and teaching schedules for the upcoming week.

3. The Weekly Clock Hour Report identifies how time was spent in activities directly related to teaching. On the reverse side is a structured journal entry. The journal provides room to reflect on teaching practices such as perceived strengths and weaknesses as well as goals for improvement in the weeks that follow.

4. The Weekly Review Report is completed by both the student and the cooperating mentor teacher. They should then compare their responses before mailing the sheets to the University supervisor.

Assignments:

Beyond the expectations that the student teacher will be assimilated into the full-time teaching role, the student teacher will be expected to complete the following tasks. Many of these are best completed during the first four weeks. Forms are provided for these tasks.

• Maintain a three-ring binder of lesson plans and support materials for each course taught.
• Visit, observe, and report on four other teachers’ classes during the semester. Consult with the cooperating mentor teacher for references. An Observation Report Form is provided.
• Develop at least one bulletin board at the elementary/middle school or high school level and prepare a report with a photograph. A Bulletin Board Report Form is provided.
• Attend at least three extra curricular events (sporting events, fine arts performances, school board meetings, faculty meetings, etc.) during the semester. An Extra Curricular Report Form is provided.
• Videotape a lesson during the last four weeks of student teaching (preferable at the high school level). Review the videotape and report on your findings. A Videotape Report Form is included.
• Prepare a standards-based professional portfolio and post it to LiveText.
• Make sure all weekly reports are submitted in a timely manner.

Evaluation (taken from ISU Teacher Education Website)

The teacher candidate’s performance is formally evaluated on two occasions during student teaching: 1) at midterm and 2) at the conclusion of each practicum placement. The midterm evaluation is a formative evaluation and is discussed jointly by the University supervisor, the cooperating teacher, and the teacher candidate. The purpose is to help the teacher candidate become aware of his/her progress or lack of progress. The midterm assessment is not returned to Illinois State University.

The final evaluation is summative in nature and serves to indicate the quality of the teacher candidate’s total teaching performance. The final grade is determined by the University supervisor.

The following standards are prepared for arriving at final grades in student teaching. Illinois State University does not use plus and minus letter grades. Each placement (elementary/middle school and high school) are assigned one letter grade

The following guidelines apply:

1. The “A” teacher candidate demonstrates beginning level competencies to such a degree that he/she can be recommended without reservation to a prospective employer.
2. The “B” teacher candidate demonstrates beginning level competencies to such a degree that he/she can be highly recommended to a prospective employer.
3. The “C” teacher candidate demonstrates potential beginning level competencies which would allow him/her to be recommended with certain reservations to a prospective employer.
4. The “D” teacher candidate demonstrates such limited potential for teaching that he/she will not be recommended for teacher certification.
5. The “F” teacher candidate is so completely ineffective e as a teacher that he/she would not be awarded any college credit for student teaching nor be recommended for teacher certification. Individuals who demonstrate inadequate performance should be counseled early to consider dropping student teaching.

Note: The Council on Teacher Education at Illinois State University recently passed a requirement saying that students must earn a “C” grade in student teaching to graduate. Also, effective February 1, 2012, all courses counted toward a teaching endorsement must have earned a grade of “C” or better.