INFORMATION FOR
A Guide for Clinical Experience
Clinical experiences at William Paterson University provide a foundation for Clinical Practice.
What Clinical Experience Teacher Candidates Should Know and Understand
* NOTE:
A clinical supervisor will visit at least three times during the semester to meet as a triad and observe a minimum of two lessons and talk with the teacher candidate. (See specific program requirements within departments.) The clinical supervisor will discuss the teacher candidate’s progress with the clinical educator. Both the clinical supervisor and the clinical educator must submit a final report about the extent to which the teacher candidate has fulfilled clinical experience expectations.
The aforementioned information is a guide for the teacher candidate, clinical educator, and clinical supervisor. The clinical supervisor may not necessarily observe all of these behaviors.
As a clinical experience teacher candidate, you are both a discoverer and a learner. You are discovering whether or not you like teaching, and you are learning some things about public schools you may not have realized before. Here is a checklist of suggestions to assist you during your clinical experience experience.
PRIOR TO CLINICAL EXPERIENCE
____ Read this entire booklet, including parts labeled for the clinical educator and the clinical supervisor.
____ Evaluate your personal appearance -- is it in accordance with the standards for teachers in the school and community? If you are not sure, dress conservatively.
____ Review what you know about child or adolescent psychology.
____ Get to know your clinical supervisor.
____ Locate the school assigned and determine commuting time.
____ Contact your school and cooperating teacher. Identify the time you are expected to arrive and the procedures to be followed on arrival.
THE FIRST DAY
____ Arrive at the school early, reporting first to the school office. Introduce yourself to the front office staff who you are and ask for assistance in getting to your Clinical Educator’s classroom.
____ Introduce yourself to the clinical educator, giving him or her a copy of the Introduction booklet.
____ Introduce yourself to the school principal and other staff members.
____ Observe the students in your assigned class and begin to learn their names.
DURING THE CLINICAL EXPERIENCE
____ Engage in co-planning and co-teaching with your clinical educator. Use the Co-teaching guide, found in this handbook.
____ Prepare for teaching assignments with written lesson plans using the WP lesson plan templates.
____ Attend regularly. (You are expected to be regular in attendance except when prevented by illness or other unavoidable circumstances. You are allowed one unavoidable absence).
____ Notify both the clinical educator and the clinical supervisor of absences or delays in getting to school.
____ Dress and groom yourself in accordance with the standards of the school.
____ Arrive early and stay until the teacher's departing time.
____ Use tact and courtesy in dealing with teachers, administrators, school personnel, and custodians.
____ Observe the clinical educator to learn new ideas.
____ Keep a weekly Contextual Factors Journal.
____ Carry out tasks assigned by the clinical educator.
____ Relate this experience to methods classes and vice versa.
____ If something goes wrong, ask the clinical educator and/or clinical supervisor for help or advice without delay.
____ If you tend to disagree with school policy or the teacher, obtain information before drawing conclusions.
____ Follow the clinical educator's calendar. However, clinical experience teacher candidates will observe WP’s spring break and need not attend clinical experience that week.
EVALUATION
____ Seek and accept constructive criticism and suggestions.
____ Reflect on your own behavior to improve your performance.
____ Ask the clinical educator for a detailed conference and evaluation at the end of the semester.
____ Complete the Teacher Candidate Evaluation of the Clinical Experience form at the end of the semester, and return it to the Office of Field Experiences.
____ Ask yourself, "Do I really want to become a teacher?"
AT THE CONCLUSION
____ Return any materials/books that belong to the clinical educator or the school.
____ Ask your clinical educator if he/she can recommend you when you begin to develop your portfolio and resume.
____ Submit all required reports by the final seminar meeting.