Observing

The first week of the clinical teaching assignment for teacher certification in Texas will be spent observing the classroom environment, instructional techniques, interpersonal communication and relationships between the mentor teacher and students. It is encouraged to take notes during this week so you can ask the mentor teacher questions regarding his/her interactions with curriculum/students. Interacting with and getting to know the names of the students will help build a relationship as your observing evolves into a classroom instructor role towards the end of the clinical teaching assignment.

Assisting

During the 2nd and 3rd week of the clinical teaching assignment, the clinical teacher should be focused on interacting with students. Some of these interactions may include:

The main goal at this point is to cooperate with the mentor teacher so the gradual change of roles in the classroom will go smoothly. One way to engage the students during the transition is to co-teach a lesson to the class.

Weeks 4-9

Teaming

The mentor teacher will begin sharing responsibility for planning and teaching a selected lesson during class sessions. The mentor teacher will allow this process to happen in a number ways:

Teaching

During this phase the clinical teacher will assume responsibility for preparing lesson plans for the classroom. The lesson plan developed by the clinical teacher should be submitted to the cooperating teacher the Friday prior to the lesson being given. Upon approval by the cooperating teacher, the clinical teacher will be allowed to present the lesson plan to the class.

This process will accelerate during the clinical teaching assignment to allow the clinical teacher to teach multiple lessons in all subject areas and class periods throughout the school day.

Full Responsibility

A gradual building of teaching responsibility will lead to the clinical teacher instructing 100% of the lessons by week 11. During weeks 11-13, the clinical teacher will assume full responsibility of planning and teaching the students in the classroom. Week 14 will be a gradual shift back to the classroom teacher.

Conference – 3 Way Evaluation

A conference between the cooperating teacher, field supervisor, and clinical teacher will occur three times during the clinical teaching assignment. At the conference, an evaluation form will be discussed to help provide constructive feedback to the clinical teacher. These conferences will lay the foundation for any types of interventions or deficiency planning that may occur.

The structure of the program supervisor evaluation form is based off benchmarks and standards, as related to T-TESS.

Download our Course Catalog for more information