Cooperating Teacher Orientation

1
Cooperating Teacher Orientation

• James Madison University
• Education Support Center

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The Role of the CooperatingTeacher

• You will play a critical role in helping the
  student teacher complete his/her experience
  successfully.
• The following information will help define your
  role and responsibilities as a cooperating
  teacher and explain what you should expect from
  your student teacher.
• This orientation should be used in conjunction
  with the Student Teaching Performance Guide.

3
Welcoming your Student Teacher

• Contact your student teacher via email or
  telephone prior to their first visit.
• Orient your student teacher to
• you (e.g. introductions, survival kit, setting
  assignments/schedule)
• the school (e.g. maps, routines, rules, emergency
  procedures), and
• the classroom (e.g. getting to know your
  students).

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The Initial School Visit

• Learn about your student teacher.
• Share your own experiences, skills, interests,
  and expectations.
• Topics for discussion might include
• School philosophy, policies, calendar daily
  schedule.
• Expectations regarding dress, behavior, etc.
• Required reports and record-keeping, grading
  standards and discipline procedures share school
  handbook.
• The curriculum and skills or SOL content to be
  covered.
• Sharing your instructional materials (texts) and
  strategies.
• Schools expectations for their students and
  classroom routines share student handbook for
  reference.

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Student Teacher Attendance Requirements

• Must follow the school division calendar (not the
  university calendar) including vacations,
  holidays, and workdays.
• Attend school make-up days scheduled due to
  inclement weather closures.
• Allowable absences include personal illness,
  death in immediate family or extreme
  circumstances.
• Approval for pre-planned absences must be
  obtained in advance from both the cooperating
  teacher and university supervisor. Appropriate
  paperwork must be submitted.
• Multiple absences, and/or frequently
• arriving late or leaving early, are not
• permitted. Be sure to inform the University
  Supervisor.

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Student Teacher Attendance Requirements
(continued)

• In case of unexpected absence, the student
  teacher must notify the cooperating teacher
  immediately. If s/he cant reach the CT, the
  principal must be contacted. The university
  supervisor must also be informed.
• The student teacher is responsible for providing
  lesson plans during an absence to ensure
  continuity of instruction.
• Student teachers are excused from the classroom
  for the following events
• Required Student Teaching Conference held
  on-campus each semester.
• One Teacher Recruitment Day. (Spring student
  teachers only)

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Student Teacher Schedule Requirements

• Student teachers are expected to follow the
  cooperating teachers schedule throughout the
  placement including
• Observing the same hours.
• Attending professional meetings including faculty
  meetings, parent conferences, PTA, and county or
  city in-service workshops.
• Taking part in extra-curricular activities as
  appropriate.

8
Student Teacher Professionalism Requirements

• Student teachers must demonstrate professional
  attitudes and actions
• Follow schools rules and policies.
• Follow rules of courtesy with teachers, staff,
  pupils, and school community.
• Meet schools standards of dress, behavior, and
  personal appearance.
• Place school responsibilities ahead of personal
  wishes.
• Safeguard knowledge from access to confidential
  records or personal information, using it for
  professional purposes only.
• Please share any confidentiality concerns with ST
  or university supervisor.

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A Moment to Reflect

• Scenario 1. Your student teacher arrives on her
  first day with enthusiasm and appropriate attire.
  As you are discussing your expectations, you see
  a glint of metal in her mouth and realize she has
  a tongue piercing. What do you do?
• Inform her that she is not to wear it when she is
  in the school.
• Scenario 2. Your student teacher has been doing
  an excellent job over the first few weeks.
  During lunch, she excitedly mentions to you that
  her fiancée is arriving for a long weekend and
  would you mind if she took Monday off. What do
  you do?
• Wish her a great weekend, but remind her that she
  needs to be in school on Monday. There are no
  provisions or time for a personal absence.
• Scenario 3. You are planning your long term
  schedule with your new student teacher and he
  questions why he should be attending an evening
  PTA meeting, especially since it interferes with
  his evening job as a server. What do you do?
• Remind the student teacher that s/he is expected
  to follow your schedule. Student teachers are
  told that this is a full-time experience and
  takes precedence over all other responsibilities.
• Scenario 4. You overhear your student teacher
  talking to another student teacher at your
  school. They are discussing some students in
  their classrooms and you feel they are breaching
  confidentiality. What do you do?
• Talk to them about your concern, and share this
  concern with the university supervisor if it
  happens again.

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Planning and the Student Teaching Experience

• Provide orientation to school and classroom.
• Discuss basic instructional materials and faculty
  and student handbooks.
• Help establish objectives and provide
  expectations and deadlines for daily lesson
  plans, unit plans, and pupil evaluation.
• Plan (with university supervisor) for induction
  into teaching process and gradual assumption of
  primary classroom responsibility.

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Schedule and the Student Teaching Experience

• Cooperating teacher, university supervisor, and
  student teacher will work together to develop an
  appropriate schedule to cover a broad range of
  experiences.
• Things to consider
• Schools schedule and program design, including
  SOL instruction and testing.
• Co-teaching strategies (to be further discussed).
• Readiness of pupils to accept a student teacher.
• See sample teaching schedule. (ST Performance
  Guide, Section III, p.7)

12
Climate and the Student Teaching Experience

• Develop and provide an atmosphere that supports
  dialogue and discussion share advice,
  constructive feedback, and encourage open
  communication.
• Establish a climate that is conducive to student
  learning and allows the student teacher to
  develop skills in planning, and to test theory
  and practice in the classroom.
• Foster the support of administrators, staff, and
  other faculty in the building.

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Teaching and the Student Teaching Experience

• One must be a student before one can be a
  teacher. Chinese Proverb

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Teaching and the Student Teaching Experience

• Review and give feedback on lesson plans BEFORE
  the ST teaches from them.
• Observe informally daily -- provide oral feedback
  on classroom management skills and at least one
  lesson or activity.
• Serve as a resource regarding the teaching
  process, supplies, equipment and curriculum.
• Work with supervisor to see that ST is meeting
  university goals and expectations.
• Provide increasing feedback and support as ST
  assumes primary classroom responsibility.

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Reflection, Collaboration and Communicationand
the Student Teaching Experience

• Apprise ST of progress at all times and revise
  goals and expectations as necessary.
• Meet formally at least once a week to discuss
  progress, review short and long term
  instructional plans, and identify objectives for
  following week. Complete student teaching
  planning form (ST-3). Keep university supervisor
  and your
• principal informed on ST
• progress.

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Reflection, Collaboration and Communication
(continued)and the Student Teaching Experience

• Complete mid-block and final student teacher
  evaluations (ST-9). Share your evaluation with
  the student teacher and university supervisor.
• Provide ST opportunities for professional growth
  by encouraging observations of other educators,
  attendance at professional meetings, and
  participation in schools programs.
• Review all forms in Section IV of Student Teacher
  Performance Guide.

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A Moment to Reflect

• Scenario 5. You sit down with your new student
  teacher to fill out your Student Teaching
  Planning Information (ST-2) and Student Teaching
  Plan (ST-3). What information do you need to
  have ready before you sit down to plan?
• Have academic/school calendars and your lesson
  plans available. You will need your schedule of
  meetings, field trips, testing, etc. to begin
  your planning.
• Scenario 6. Youve accepted a first block student
  teacher, and so youre getting to know your new
  students and your student teacher all at once.
  What are some steps you can take to provide a
  climate that encourages learning, and supports
  communication and feedback with your student
  teacher?
• Introduce yourself and your student teacher as
  co-teachers to your new students.
• Establish your classroom routines as you normally
  would, having your student teacher responsible
  for portions of the routine.
• Share your past stories/experiences for
  establishing a new classroom with your ST.
• Scenario 7. Youve just finished the first two
  weeks of your 8-weeks with your student teacher.
  Youre feeling a little overwhelmed. When are
  you supposed to find the time to do all of these
  meetings, evaluations and feedback with your ST?
• Choose one planning period a week to meet
  formally to discuss ST progress, review lesson
  plans, and fill out the ST-3 planning form.
  Incorporate informal feedback during your normal
  communication throughout the day.

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From Intro to Solo

• Learning and teaching should not stand on
  opposite banks and just watch the river flow by
  instead, they should embark together on a journey
  down the water
• Malaguzzi, Loris, quoted in The Hundred
  Languages of Children

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From Intro to Solo

• You should share teaching activities with the ST
  in a variety of ways at first, and eventually
  leave him/her alone in the classroom for extended
  periods of time.
• Do not leave all day! Observations and feedback
  on teaching skills are critical.
• It is the entire teaching experience each day
  that is important for the student teacher, not
  just being alone in the classroom.

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Classroom Observation Strategies (see Section IV
of Student Teaching Performance Guide)

• You are required to submit an evaluation form,
  the ST-9 (pages 10-12) at mid-block and final
  evaluation of the student teaching experience.
• Regular daily observations and feedback are
  recommended.
• There are many strategies for classroom
  observations to use including Selective
  Verbatim, Verbal Flow, At-Task, Teacher Movement,
  and Focused Scripting (pages 18-19).
• These strategies are useful when you are
  providing feedback for specific aspects of
  teaching (e.g. content knowledge, instructional
  performance, student involvement).

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Co-Teaching(see Section II of Student Teaching
Performance Guide)

• Co-teaching is when CT ST are working together
  with groups of students and sharing the delivery
  of instruction.
• It can allow the student teacher to gradually
  present portions of the lessons and/or work with
  individuals or small groups of students.
• With co-teaching the time the ST is left totally
  alone is reduced, and it takes advantage of an
  additional trained adult in the classroom to
  teach students.
• Approaches to co-teaching include
• One Teach, One Support, Parallel Teaching,
  Alternative Teaching, Station Teaching, and Team
  Teaching (pages 4-5).

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A Moment to Reflect

• Scenario 8. You feel that your ST might be
  calling on the same students through-out the
  lesson. What observation strategy might you use
  to elicit that information?
• Teacher movement observes the ST pattern through
  the classroom to see if the teacher is able to
  give specific attention to all individuals during
  a lesson. You also can keep a record of how many
  times each student is called on during a
  particular lesson.
• Scenario 9. Several students in your class are
  struggling with their math concepts. What
  methods of co-teaching can you explore with your
  student teacher during math lessons that can
  address this problem?
• Depending on the numbers of students having
  difficulty with the content, either Parallel
  Teaching or Alternative Teaching would be a good
  use of a second teacher in the class in this
  scenario. This would entail either splitting the
  class in half or splitting the class into the
  main large group and a small group. That way the
  students having more difficulty grasping the
  concept could be taught at a slower pace without
  slowing down the other students.
• Scenario 10. Your high school English student
  teacher wants to incorporate co-teaching
  strategies into her lesson plans. Your students
  are learning about American poetry. What method
  might work well in this situation?
• Team Teaching probably would be the most
  effective method for these lessons. The class
  can have an engaging discussion as you both
  actively share your own interpretations and
  insight.

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The Role of the University Supervisor

• The university supervisor is the primary liaison
  between the cooperating school and the
  university.
• S/he will visit shortly after the student teacher
  begins to discuss the program requirements.
  Subsequent visits should average at least once
  every two weeks
• To review ST lesson plans.
• To observe classes or activities that ST is
  teaching and provide written feedback.
• To confer with CT and ST.

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The Final Grade

• The university supervisor is ultimately
  responsible for the student teachers final grade
  (credit / no credit).
• Your input and recommendations, however, are
  critical to the grading process!
• Your final evaluation, including narrative
  comments, should always accurately reflect the
  STs performance.

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Clinical Faculty

• Clinical Faculty are cooperating teachers who
  have received specialized training in supervising
  student teachers.
• CF have increased responsibilities
• Demonstrate a commitment to lifelong learning
  (graduate work, workshops, or other professional
  development activities).
• Assume a three-year appointment and attend at
  least one refresher workshop during that term.
• Accept one student teacher per year, if
  requested.
• Formally observe student teachers once a week and
  provide written feedback.
• CF receive an increased honorarium due to their
  added qualifications, training, and
  responsibilities.
• Please contact your principal if you are
  interested in participating.

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Thank You for your Participation

• Please contact the Education Support Center at
  540-568-6274 or teacher-ed_at_jmu.edu if you have
  any questions or comments about this orientation.
• Be sure to review our website at
  http//coe.jmu.edu/esc/ for additional
  information about the student teaching process.