Practice Teaching Manual
Practice Teaching Manual
Practice Teaching Manual
BENEDICTO COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF TEACHER EDUCATION
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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BENEDICTO COLLEGE- PRACTICE TEACHING MANUAL
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………...3
Orientation topics……………………………………………………………………………….14-15
Evaluation system………………………………………………………………………………16
INTRODUCTION
The culminating experience of any teacher education program is student teaching: a rigorous internship in a
school setting that allows prospective teachers, under the guidance of accomplished mentor, to transition into
the teaching profession. At Benedicto College, we typically refer to the internship semester not simply as
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“Student Teaching” but as the Education Semester because the actual student teaching internship is only one
part of your whole experience that semester.
This portion of the Teacher Education Handbook is intended to provide students, cooperating school personnel,
and college supervisors with an overview of the Education Semester and to answer any preliminary questions
that may arise as a result of participation in the student teaching experience offered at Benedicto College.
Teacher education is a complex collaboration between the college and the school, and the student teaching
internship itself represents an important step toward a successful career in education. We rely on local school
personnel—especially cooperating teachers—to provide crucial learning experiences for our prospective
teachers. As a faculty, we very much value the time and effort put into the internship and we always look
forward to the feedback cooperating teachers provide.
A third crucial component of each student’s Education Semester experience is the supervision and evaluation of
teaching. While department faculty are located on campus and provide additional support for teaching from
here, cooperating teachers are situated within the school and offer expertise in addressing challenges with
regard to students, curriculum, and the specific teaching context.
DTE Vision:
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Provide affordable, globally in demand, best fit, quality college and voctech education.
DTE Mission:
Produce highly competent, employable graduates that can be qualified wherever part of the world they may be
employed.
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(1) provide you the opportunity to learnt the art of teaching in actual classroom situations under the guidance of
an experienced cooperating teacher;
(2) provide you the opportunity to demonstrate in real classroom situation your mastery of teaching the subject
matter and the methodology of imparting it to learners;
(3) provide your professional development and foster a positive attitude to teaching in you;
(4) assess the extent to which you satisfy the requirement for the award of the certificate you are pursuing, and
(5) evaluate the adequacy or otherwise of the practical aspects of the teacher education programs.
Teacher candidates will be admitted to the Teaching Internship course upon fulfillment of the following
requirements:
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1. Meet with the Orientation Official to determine if all required courses that are pre-requisites to the
Teaching Internship course have been approved.
2. The semester class must have been successfully completed with a grade of 80% or higher. An
incomplete grade must be removed and replaced with an 80% or higher before the teacher candidate is
scheduled to report to the Practice Center.
3. The application form to enroll in the Teaching Internship course must be filled out by the teacher
candidate, signed by the Dean, and will be submitted to the Practice mentor.
Teacher candidates are expected to fully immerse themselves in their respective practice schools and
engage their students in meaningful learning experiences. The following should be noted:
1. Teacher candidates are expected to complete 300 hours of practice teaching in one semester.
2. Daily attendance is mandatory. You are expected to be at the Practice school a minimum of four
hours per day.
3. It is the responsibility of the teacher candidates to fill out all the required forms on a daily basis.
4. Teacher candidate is required to submit a portfolio.
5. Lesson planning is mandatory for your assigned class.
6. The cooperating teacher is your mentor. You are required to 1 hour per day orientation with your
mentor to discuss all aspects of practice teaching.
Student teachers should be prepared to engage in the following duties over the course of the Education
Semester:
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Student teachers should be assigned certain classroom responsibilities on the very first day of the student
teaching experience. The first responsibilities may be routine tasks activities that help learners on an individual
or small group basis. If, in the judgment of the cooperating teacher, the student teacher appears ready to assume
teaching responsibilities by the beginning of the second week, this is an appropriate time to give the student
teacher full responsibility for a class. The pre-teaching experiences that are necessary prior to assuming the
responsibilities for the entire classroom will vary with:
(1) the experience that the student teacher has previously had in directing the activities of students;
(2) the degree of competence the student teacher has exhibited in handling other matters; and
Conferencing. The college dean and cooperating teacher must confer on a regular basis concerning the observation and evaluation of
the student teacher. Cooperating teachers are also encouraged to attend campus activities related to student teaching.
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Evaluation. The cooperating teacher is expected to evaluate the student teacher’s progress utilizing the “Student Teacher Weekly
Observation/Evaluation Form” weekly during the Education Semester.
Major competency reviews should be completed by the cooperating teacher the final week of student teaching.
A conference with the student teacher must be held after each evaluation. This is an opportunity to discuss
improvement, or lack of it, in the teaching skill of candidates and a chance for student teachers to clarify
expectations.
The most successful cooperating teachers are those that challenge student teachers to do the best work they can do, but also provide help
and support for student teachers as well. Anyone who has ever completed student teaching knows that it can be an extraordinarily
stressful experience, and, like any stressful experience, a balance between expertise and nurturance is required to make it fruitful. The
Education Department expects cooperating teachers to provide student teachers with this balance of challenge and support. With that in
mind, we recommend the following practices to cooperating teachers.
Encourage exploration and provide regular constructive feedback. Each student teacher should be encouraged
to develop his or her own style and personality as a teacher, to try new ideas and methods on a daily basis. The
cooperating teacher must allow the student teacher to work with students in his or her own unique way and not
simply expect the student teacher to imitate the cooperating teacher’s style. While we recognize and value the
expertise of cooperating teachers, research shows that attitudes and practices developed during student teaching
influence future performance, and that student teachers who are given an opportunity to develop their skills go on to
Schedule time regularly to explore concerns, questions, and procedures. Every student teacher begins the
experience with lots of questions, and many of the day-to-day habits and expectations of teaching simply cannot be
learned until full-time work in a school begins. Each school setting has its own culture and student teachers must
learn to adjust to it in a very short amount of time. Please take the time to talk about expectations and procedures
regularly—daily, even—to ensure that your student teacher feels welcome in your school and can contribute in the
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Be patient with your student teacher, and always focus on his or her growth. As every good teacher knows, not
all learners learn at the same pace or in the same way. Some student teachers are prepared to undertake the
responsibilities of classroom teaching long before the Education Semester begins, while others struggle throughout
the entire internship only to rapidly pull things together at the end. We encourage all student teachers and
cooperating teachers to think of student teaching as a learning experience—one in which certain assumptions about
teaching will be called into question, where ideas and activities that seemed to work with one group of students fail
miserably with another, and where success may not be measured as easily as we would like for it to be. Most of all,
try to remember that student teaching is the beginning of a process, as well as the end of one—it serves as the end of
the induction experience but as only the start of a student teacher’s journey into effective professional practice.
Model the dispositions you want your student teacher to display. Remember, as a cooperating teacher, that you
are the embodiment of the teaching profession to the student teacher you work with. In a certain sense, student
teaching pulls back the curtain on schooling to reveal the inner workings of the school. Student teachers are deeply
affected by this. It is not uncommon for cooperating teachers to undermine the goals of a teacher education program
by speaking negatively about students, colleagues, or administrators, or about the teacher education program itself; it
is also not uncommon for cooperating teachers to send a message, intended or not, that certain things are simply “not
possible” in teaching. While some of these insights may be warranted, we want to encourage cooperating teachers to
promote positive approaches to teaching and learning that further creative and powerful visions of teaching. This is
not to suggest that teaching should be sugarcoated or that challenges should not be discussed. It is simply to suggest
that student teaching serves as a critical induction into the profession, one that can, and often does, have a lasting
impact on the student teacher’s commitment to, and understanding of, teaching. We believe that effective teachers
are empathetic, authentically interested in student learning, are respectful of their colleagues and of students, and
believe in their own ability to teach effectively. When these dispositions are shared by student teacher and coop
Be flexible, respectful, and understanding of the student teacher’s time and effort. Pursuant to the previous
point, it can be useful to remember that student teachers are not employed by the school district; indeed, they are
paying tuition to the College as they complete the process of learning to teach. Additionally, while many teacher
education programs require a seminar to be taken on campus during the student teaching experience, ours is
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somewhat more rigorous than most. While we want to be sure that student teachers are held to the highest possible
standards, we also hope to encourage cooperating teachers to be understanding of the great many demands placed
on these students. The explosion of calls for accountability in education over the past several years is only now
beginning to be felt in teacher education, and it promises to radically alter the way student teaching internships work.
One likely outcome is that student teachers will be expected to do even more to prove their commitment to teaching.
Be mindful of relationships. The student teaching experience involves multiple people with varied roles to play in
the education of the student teacher. At a minimum, at least four individuals are involved in the student teaching
experience, leading to a web of different relationships: the cooperating teacher, the college supervisor, the faculty
member teaching the student teaching seminar, and the student teacher himself or herself. Ideally the relationship
between each individual is one of honesty and trust, but one that challenges each person as well. We encourage
cooperating teachers to view their relationships with student teachers and representatives of the College as true
partnerships marked by give-and-take and by mutual respect. At the same time, only the cooperating teacher has the
Communicate! Finally, the importance of effective communication cannot be overstated. Be sure to ask your
student teacher frequently if s/he has any questions about accepted rules, procedures, and practices, and never
assume that a student teacher knows something about the workings of a school unless you have imparted that
information personally. It is easy to forget, after working in a school for a number of years, that not all schools
operate in the same way. Likewise, we strongly encourage cooperating teachers to maintain close contact with the
college supervisor and/or with other members of the faculty of the Education Department.
Supervision and evaluation of student teachers is shared by the cooperating teacher and the college supervisor. The college supervisor
will visit each student teacher assigned to him/her to develop direct knowledge of the student’s teaching and to aid in determining
eligibility for the teaching certificate and awarding an grade for the student teaching semester.
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Observation visits to a student teacher’s classroom ordinarily will cover one complete class period. Following each observation visit a
conference will be held with the student teacher. During the visit, as convenient, the supervisor will also confer with the cooperating
teacher. An written observation/evaluation form, will be completed by the college supervisor at the conclusion of each visit, with one
copy provided to the student teacher, another copy to the cooperating teacher, and a third copy held by the college supervisor and filed
with the Education Department.
The quality of supervision received in student teaching is vital to the student teacher’s success. Communication with supervisors on a
regular basis will help to ensure that success.
Student teachers are expected to meet several expectations during the Education Semester.
Prior to the issuance of a teaching certificate at the conclusion of the Education Semester, the student teacher shall display satisfactory
performance on all appropriate approved teacher competencies. The procedure for evaluating competencies during student teaching is
as follows:
The Student Teacher self-evaluates his or her performance using competency list.
The Cooperating Teacher evaluates student teacher using another copy of the competency list.
The Cooperating Teacher and Student Teacher compare evaluations and discuss performance rating.
Results of the collaborative evaluation are recorded and shared with the College Supervisor.
Final evaluations are conducted in the same manner and copies are submitted to the cooperating teacher, student
The following norms should serve as guidelines to help you during your Teaching Internship.
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1. Teacher candidate should adopt and reflect a positive and receptive attitude toward your Practice Teaching
experience.
3. Sign your attendance card when arriving and leaving the school.
4. You are expected to maintain perfect attendance. You must justify any absence and notify the Cooperating Teacher
6. Students are not required to run errands for you at any time.
8. The cooperating Teacher must proofread and authorize any written communication you send home with your
students.
9. You will establish in agreement with the Cooperating Teacher, a set of guidelines for classroom management and
group control.
10. You are responsible for the proper use and care of school property and facilities.
11. You are required to keep your Portfolio and school records up-to-date. All due dates for the reports must be met.
ORIENTATION TOPICS
The Cooperating Teacher should discuss these topics, and any other that may be of interest, in order to give Teacher
9. Lesson Planning
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EVALUATION SYSTEM
The Teaching Internship course is evaluated using assessment rubrics that are included in this manual. You will
be evaluated in the following areas:
1. Handling Teaching/Learning Situations in the Classroom
Teaching methods and techniques.
Use of curriculum materials.
Handling of individual differences.
Time utilization.
Classroom routines and discipline.
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Teacher candidates must obtain a grade of 80% (minimum) in order to pass the Teaching Internship course.
Students who obtain a grade of 80% below must repeat the course in order to fullfill the requirements for
graduation.
Comments
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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4- Meets Expectations/Satisfactory
1- Emerging/Unsatisfactory
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