This is your teacher candidate’s first school practicum. It consists of observations as well as the teaching of individual lessons, including partial lessons. Advisors should note strengths of the teacher candidate and areas in which more time and attention are recommended. An appropriate minimum teaching workload is about a class per day (20%). Prior to teaching, teacher candidates are asked to prepare a lesson plan and discuss it with his/her school advisor. We suggest that school advisors observe all lessons taught by the teacher candidate during this initial practicum and provide suggestions and opportunities for reflection.
All teacher candidates will be returning to their sponsor schools on selected Tuesdays in November and December to sustain their relationships with their advisors in between the short and extended practicum, as well as initiate their planning for the upcoming extended practicum.
During this two-week practicum, teacher candidates should be evaluated on the following:
- Types of lessons/observations undertaken
- Quality of lesson preparation and presentation
- Initiative and willingness to accept directions
- Communication with staff and students
- Enthusiasm for teaching tasks and interest in children/youth
- Professionalism
Evaluation is done by both the school and faculty advisors. Both anecdotal forms and evaluation checklists are provided under the Required Forms section of this website. Informal feedback forms can be used in addition to evaluation forms. Copies of all reports should be kept by the faculty advisor and should be accessible to all advisors and the teacher candidate. One copy of the EDUC 315 School Orientation Practicum Form should be prepared and given to the faculty advisor, who then forwards a copy to the Teacher Education Office (TEO) at UBC. Once again, this form can be downloaded from the Required Forms section of this website.
While it is expected that teacher candidates will be observing classes in his/her subject area, you should encourage teacher candidates to observe other classes as well. It is beneficial for teacher candidates to experience a wide variety of teaching styles in many different disciplines in order to help them think about and develop their own teaching methodology.
At the end of the two-week practicum, complete the School Orientation Practicum Form (mentioned above) distributed by the faculty advisor, share it with your teacher candidate on the last day of the practicum, and submit a copy to the faculty advisor. If there are any concerns or if you feel the teacher candidate should not continue with you during the extended practicum, notify the faculty advisor as soon as possible.
Before the end of the second week, school advisors and teacher candidates should begin what will be a continuing dialogue about the units/themes/topics for which the teacher candidate will be responsible during the extended practicum in February to May.