Sample Cohort Pacing Guide for Intern Semester II

 Intern: Cooperating Teacher: 

Internship Schedule: __________and _________(days of week), (Dates)

The cooperating teacher and intern may agree to adjust the internship schedule, but they must assure that the intern meets the 2 days a week requirement. Weekly time to consult privately with your cooperating teacher is important, but sometimes difficult to achieve at school. While telephone consultation is less effective, it may become necessary on occasion.

Information for Cooperating Teacher:

• Please follow the guidelines in the Elementary Partner Guidebook. Please pay particular attention to the section titled Observing and Planning Effective Conferences with Beginning Teachers.
• Interns may be left alone for only very short periods of time (e.g., if the teacher needs to go to the bathroom, take a call, etc.). If the teacher has to leave, a certified teacher or substitute teacher must remain with the intern. Interns should never be left alone on the playground, and only for short periods of time in other settings.
• Most tasks listed on the reverse side are guidelines. Help your intern select those that fit your students, schedule and school. An asterisk (*) indicates a required task.
• We endeavor to keep your paperwork to a minimum, but try to complete two formal observations using the attached forms or your own anecdotal records. Provide oral and written feedback, and submit a copy to the UT field supervisor.
• Consult with the field supervisor and coordinator as needed.
• Complete an Observer Final Evaluation Form given to you by the field supervisor, and submit the completed form to your intern by __________.

Information for Intern:

• If an absence is unavoidable, telephone your cooperating teacher and field supervisor as soon as possible. E-mail or telephone the coordinator, stating reasons that necessitate your absence from the field placement. Absences in excess of 2½ days must be made up after _________.
• Discuss and demonstrate an understanding of school emergency procedures.
• Exchange home telephone numbers with cooperating teacher.
• Check your e-mail daily. Use the phone to reach the field supervisor if your computer is down.
• Exchange telephone numbers with at least two other cohort members (optional, but advised).
• Read and demonstrate adherence to the Code of Ethics and Standard Practices for Texas Educators, available in the "Policies Guidelines Expectations Checklist" document located at https://wikis.utexas.edu/display/COEfieldexperiences/Policies
• Thoroughly examine the TEA Curriculum Guidelines for your grade level, available at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/index2.aspx?id=6148. 
  
  
  

Observation    

• Introduce yourself to a school administrator.
• Discuss briefly with cooperating teacher, school counselor, nurse, or assistant principal such topics as student records, routine and emergency referrals, school safety, and school-wide discipline plans.
• Use a school district calendar to mark holidays, staff development, parent conference days, etc.
• Record or obtain copy of cooperating teacher’s schedule.
• *Copy class rules.
• *Note cooperating teacher’s discipline strategies (prevention, intervention, consequences, etc.).
• *Use a spiral notebook to record informal observations, questions, or concerns for classroom management journals.
• *Establish a three-ring binder or folder system to organize handouts and forms related to your field experience.
• *Diagram the classroom and playground. Label areas for clarity. Date your diagram and label it with the school name.
• *Inventory classroom materials used by cooperating teacher (including those shared with other classes).
• *Examine district curriculum guides for your grade level.
• *Examine assessment data for the class.
• *Examine your cooperating teacher’s grading system and record-keeping systems.
• Examine any year-long plan and weekly lesson plans your cooperating teacher uses.
• Perform structured observations of lessons taught by cooperating teacher. Use forms attached.
• Learn attendance procedures.
• Observe your students during one Art, Music, or PE class. Note your findings.
• Sketch the cafeteria and note rules and procedures employed in that setting.
• Observe your class during lunch. Note insights gained.
• Request school population data regarding percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced-price lunch.
• Examine a blank application for free and reduced lunch.
• Clarify procedures for intern use of library/media center materials.
• Note your observations of procedures involving: attendance, pencil sharpening, restroom use, collection and distribution of material, nurse or counselor visits and pull-out programs.
• Note transitions between activities, assembly, field trip, nap, cleanup, lining up, moving through school hallways, dismissal, and constructive time fillers.
• *Note beginning-of-day procedures such as student arrival (walking, bus, parent drop-off), outdoor gatherings, school breakfast program, entering classrooms, storing materials, teacher greeting, focusing, etc.
• *Note strategies used by your cooperating teacher that promote the maintenance of a community of learners.
• *Note end-of-day procedures such as review, packing belongings, dismissal, boarding buses, cars, etc.
• Note procedures for correcting, grading and returning student work.
• Attend at least three parent conferences, if possible, completing a Parent Conference Observation Form for each.
• Attend at least one faculty meeting, one staff development session, and one teacher team planning session
• Note strategies you observe that support emergent reading and writing.
• *Complete at least two “outside” observations and complete report for coordinator.

Practice

• *Consult with cooperating teacher to establish instructional objectives for at least one lesson in each of these areas: language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science.
• *Complete detailed written lesson plans, noting applicable TEKS for each lesson, and share a copy with cooperating teacher and field supervisor.
• *Schedule two observations with field supervisor. Coordinate this with your cooperating teacher, as well.
• *Audiotape and videotape at least two lessons to use for EDC 331E requirement.
• *Demonstrate effective classroom management strategies.
• *Critique each lesson you give, at least informally. Use your experiences as material for your classroom management journals.