A critical component of the Student Teaching Practicum is the weekly professional seminar. EDUC 410: The Undergraduate Student Teaching Seminar and EDUC 540: The Graduate Student Teaching Seminar central purpose is to enrich and complement the field experience of the teacher candidate. Through guided discussions in seminar class, teacher candidates are able to grow as educators through critical self-reflection. In this setting, the teacher candidate is able to reflect upon one’s classroom experiences, connect to earlier acquired content and educational theory and set personal goals for improvement. Students are also able to collaborate with fellow teacher candidates, sharing ideas, advice and strategies. Attendance and participation at all seminar meetings are mandatory, and ultimately demonstrate the teacher candidate’s commitment to continued professional development. Seminar Instructors will collaborate with site directors in determining the teacher candidate’s overall grades for the experience.

Student Teaching Seminar Assignments:

Student Teaching Seminar Assignments include, but are not limited to the following:

• Classroom Management Plan
• Lesson Plans/Units of Study
• Journaling
• Philosophy of Education
• Reflective Papers
• Designing/Constructing an Interactive Bulletin Board
• Creating an Authentic Assessment and Assessment Tool (e.g. rubric)
• Video-taped lesson(s)
• Professional Teaching Portfolio

The Professional Teaching Portfolio:

The final assignment for the Student Teaching Seminar is to design a professional portfolio that illustrates the successes that occurred during the student/intern teaching field experience. The rubric detailing the organization criteria for this will be sent out prior to the start of the student teaching experience.

The Student Teaching Seminar: Emphasis on Best Practices:

 The student teaching seminar portion of EDUC 410: Student Teaching & Seminar and EDUC 540: Graduate Student Teaching & Seminar courses are designed to meet Danielson’s Framework for Teachers is characterized by research-based best practice that includes:

• Active learning in a problem-solving environment;
• The integration of learning technologies as mind tools;
• The use of multiple intelligences and learning styles to reach all learners;
• Facilitation of student voice and ownership in the learning process;
• Development of critical and creative thinking in all subjects;
• Performance-based assessments; and
• Collaborative and cooperative learning that facilitates multiple perspectives.

The Student Teaching Seminar course help to develop and further enhance each teacher candidate’s teaching knowledge, skills and abilities through field placement, supervision and reflective practice. Each week, the students share their experiences through journal entries, participate in workshops and team meetings, learn about resources, reflect on what they are learning and present their case studies.