Fall 200 Student Teaching in Art

Spring 2015 Art Student Teaching Essentials

LOGISTICS TO FOCUS ON RIGHT AWAY / ASAP

Contact your CTs and arrange to spend time in the schools before the end of this school year if possible
If you have not yet received your placement you will during the summer so try to stay calm!
As soon as you receive your placement info contact your CTs right away, express your excitement about the placement and a desire to meet them as soon as possible – lots of teachers check their email periodically over winter break, but most schools do not end second semester until after winter break.Don’t procrastinate!
Download the Student Teaching Handbook and READ IT THOROUGHLY:

Check to make sure you’ve completed all Teacher Education requirements:

Check for deficiencies (ITPS, clinical hours, etc.)

Make sure you have at least a 2.8 GPA
Register for 4 blocks of student teaching in art – Student Teaching 399.02 by July 15, 2014
Make sure your criminal background check and TB Test are on record and current
Make certain that your criminal background check and TB test DO NOT EXPIRE WHILE YOU
ARE STUDENT TEACHING. Make sure you have them on file in Degarmo
You will be removed from your placement if these expire during your placement.
WARNING: Some districts require their own criminal background checks and TB tests!
Check with your CTs and the Administrative Assistants at your schools to see if this is the case for the district(s) your schools are in
OR
Call the district office for each of your placements, tell them you are a student teacher with ISU and you’ve completed our program criminal background check and TB test requirements but you want to make sure there is no other district-required background check or TB test you need to complete.
If there are such requirements to complete, take care of them at the district office WELL BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS. You will not be able to start student teaching until they’re on file!

Before the beginning of your placement

Refresh any content knowledge and skills you feel are a little “weak”

Review lesson plan format, standards, domains, rubrics, objectives, etc.

Review the 7 Gems and read Curwin, R.L. and Mendler, A.N. (2008). Discipline with Dignity - can order from AMAZON.com. ISBN 9781416607465

Practice demonstration techniques, drawing, and writing on the chalk or marker board.
If in elementary, practice printing in upper and lower case.
Review spelling and grammar usage. Review basic language arts books or online self-help programs.
Prepare financially, work lots over the summer, apply for loans. Plan to live frugally. AVOID working.
Prepare the people with whom you will live and are close to for what the coming semester entails. Student teaching is very time and energy consuming. It’s a full-time commitment and you may not be as accessible as they’re used to!
Review your wardrobe so you’ll be able to dress professionally. Choose clothes that are appropriate, comfortable, and affordable. Don’t forget about those comfortable shoes!
Organize, correct and update your resource files.
Organize, correct and update your Teaching Portfolio so that it is current. Remember you are preparing your
Exit Art Education Program Portfolio.

ABOUT 2 WEEKS BEFORE YOU REPORT FOR DUTY

Start developing a daily routine
Start going to bed at a regular time.
Get up at the time you will during the semester.
Practice driving the route during the time you will be driving to the school, (not on a vacation day or weekend because traffic patterns vary).

GETTING STARTED

Report to your first placement on the day teachers are required to back for meetings and preparation.
It is your responsibility to check this date.
During your placement plan to perform ALL school-related duties your CT performs. If they need
to attend a meeting, so do you. If they need to conduct bus, lunch or recess duty, so do you. The point of student teaching is for you to practice teaching and learn what it’s like to shoulder the full responsibilities of the job.
Get organized! Create and use systems that make the most sense to you for keeping all your materials orderly – use color coding schemes, stickers, post-its, lists, special folders, bins, etc., Just do and use whatever it takes!
Be professional at all times with everyone you encounter no matter the circumstances! You are there to learn not to change your CT’s practice or criticize how things are done. You are an ambassador for ISU – BE DIPLOMATIC!
Be a go-getter!

Take charge of your experience.
Don’t wait for your CT or U Supervisor to tell you what to do. The time for intense hand-holding is over.
You are a beginner teacher now, so act like one on ALL fronts.
YOU are in charge of staying on top of curriculum, planning, deadlines, prepping supplies, etc.
Now is the time to practice being a teacher, so PRACTICE and BE!

BE A SPONGE NOT A HOSE! You are in these placements to LEARN from your CTs, not to teach them how to be/act/teach/adopt new methods, etc. It’s great to be excited about your new ideas and to share ideas and resources back and forth with your CT, but just remember that your CT is there to mentor YOU.
Regardless of circumstances, remember that your student teaching experience is only going to be as good as you make it! Attitude is one choice you have every day!

Plan to complete as many of the Professional Growth Activities (8 Things) during your first 2 weeks at each placement as you can!
As you begin planning curriculum to teach:
Work very closely with your CT to make sure what you’re planning is appropriate for their classroom, students, age level, etc.
Seek constructive criticism and try your best to take it AND ACT ON IT with grace
Show your CT a first draft of what you’re planning AT LEAST 1 week in advance of beginning to teach it
Try to plan as many of your units/lessons as possible in as much detail as possible before and during the first weekor so of each placement so you can spend the rest of the placement running the plans and tweaking as you go rather than behind the ball or frantically trying to catch up
DO NOT try to write your curriculum as you go, you WILL drown
Plan ahead to make a clean break! Ultimately you are in your CTs classrooms temporarily and they have to take over again after you leave. Try to meld with their practices to the best of your ability and try not to leave them cleaning up/finishing your lessons/assessments etc. at the end of your placement.

TESTING REQUIREMENTS

During Student Teaching be prepared to pay to take:
Assessment of Professional Teaching (APT): Special K – 12 (The Pedagogy Test)
All test information can be found at:
Here you will find study guides and state-wide testing locations, and you can register too
It is easiest to take the Computer Based Test (CBT) but if you prefer to take a paper test beware
of location and date restrictions when you register
To find test dates click on Taking the Test at the top of the page
You will not receive an Illinois Teaching Certificate until passing this exam. YOUR DEPLOMA AND LICENSURE ARE TIED TOGETHER.
Plan ahead! It generally takes 6 weeks from the date of your test for the results to be reported.
If you plan to start applying for jobs towards the end of your student teaching,
the sooner you can take the test the better!
If you don’t pass on the first try, taking the test early in the semester
gives you more time to review and schedule your re-take if necessary.
Be sure to have the results reported to ISU. Code: 018
This is NOT an art content exam. It covers Illinois Language Arts and Technology Standards

CERTIFICATION INFORMATION

REQUIRED FALL 2013 SEMINAR • CVA 302
Friday, August 15, 2013
10:00am – 3:00pm
Breakfast and lunch will be provided! / PLEASE BRING/PREPARE:

Your copy of the Student Teaching Handbook
Your laptop if possible
Your excitement and positive energy!

THINGS TO DISCUSS DURING FIRST MEETINGS WITH YOUR CTs
(Take DETAILED notes–you’d be surprised at what you’ll forget when your head gets crowded!)

Get introductions to ALL the important people in the school community you’ll be working with (Administrative Assistants, Principals, Assistant Principals, etc.)

Get a tour of the school and the Art room(s)

For your first placement: When are teachers required to report for duty in August?

For your second placement: Let your CT know you will inform them about your start date in August.

Do you need to get a school ID or wear your ISU ID on a lanyard? Are you required to sign in at the office every day?

Go over ISU student teaching requirements – especially the 10 Things, U Supervisor observations, and the timeline for gradually assuming full instructional responsibility (ideally starting to teach some lessons/classes beginning early in week 3 and escalating rapidly from there through the end of your placement)

What are your CT’s teaching expectations of you?

What content absolutely needs to be covered during your placement?

What lessons/unit/curriculum does your CT usually start the term with?

What will the first few days of class look like in the Art room?

What are the Art classroom rules?

Will you be able to plan and execute some of your own lessons/units? (Ideally we would like you to teach some curriculum you design, but find out what your CT is comfortable doing.)

What curriculum does your CT have available for you to review and become familiar with now?

What assessment tools and methods does your CT typically use? What do they expect you to use/create?

How will grading/entering grades be handled?

What are your CT’s classroom management systems (for supplies specifically)?

What supplies are available for you to use with students?

What are the possibilities of/procedures for/budget for ordering supplies if needed?

What are your CT’s/the school’s student behavior management systems and how are they used/executed?

What technology is available for you to use in the classroom and in the school?

How does it work?

If you have to check technology tools out, who do you contact?

How does printing work? Can you print instructional materials somewhere?

What are the procedures/codes for photocopying? Is there a limit on copies?

What extracurricular activities/extra duties is your CT involved in/running?

What school committees is your CT part of? When do they meet?

THINGS TO GET YOUR HANDS ON AND REVIEW ASAP FOR BOTH OF YOUR PLACEMENTS

faculty handbook

student handbook

school calendar and daily schedules

faculty meeting schedules

important phone numbers and email addresses for:

your CT

the Administrative Assistant and front desk

the Principal and/or Assistant Principal