Early Teaching Experiences at PhysTEC Sites
Ball State University
Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
Florida International University
Seattle Pacific University
University of Arizona
University of Arkansas
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Minnesota
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Western Michigan University
Give students an opportunity to teach their peers. Several PhysTEC schools have created successful Learning Assistant programs that allow students to collaborate with faculty to make physics and physical science classes more interactive and engaging. Students may find peer teaching to be less pressure and less of a commitment than practice classroom teaching, without sacrificing the rewarding experience of helping someone learn something new.
Expose student teachers to multiple grade levels. Students may not know what grade level they want to teach, or may think they know and then change their minds.
Use early teaching experiences to prepare your pre-service teachers for student teaching. According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s “Project 2061,” “first-hand experiences in schools, teaching and mentoring experiences, and fieldwork with scientists must come early in the teacher education program. These experiences prepare prospective teachers for the content of their education courses and serve as living laboratories for formal course work.” Arizona faculty report that teacher preparation program provides pre-service teachers with “150 hours of classroom work (both targeted observations and teaching) prior to student teaching, [which makes] their transition to student teaching…much smoother. Our mentor teachers comment that our student teachers are much better prepared for student teaching than those from other programs.”
Invite practicing teachers to participate in the design of your program. Who knows better than actual teachers what preservice teachers need? Arizona reports that “Involving secondary teachers in developing curricula for the field experiences has resulted in a rich set of classroom tasks that enhance the field experiences.”
Use a Teacher in Residence or Master Teacher to coordinate early teaching experiences. Teachers In Residence are ideal early teaching experience coordinators, because they are exceptionally knowledgeable about the realities of the classroom and what preservice teachers need. In addition, they can mentor preservice teachers who are doing their student teaching, and they can sometimes use their connections with the local school district to secure excellent placements for student teachers in your program. A Ball State TIR, now back in the classroom, was able to do this for Ball State student teachers.