1. PRACTICUM BINDER WORKSHOP
Organizing your Practicum experience…

2. Responsibility
It is the Teacher Candidate’s responsibility to maintain a current and comprehensive binder including materials pertinent to the practicum. The Associate Teacher and the Faculty Advisor may request to view the practicum binder at any time.
Keep your Practicum Binder with you at all times.
Refer to pages in the Practicum Handbook.

3. What is a Practicum Binder?
A Practicum Binder is a tool Teacher Candidates can use to document their Practicum experiences.
Teacher Candidates will add new items to the binder throughout the year, and it is important that the binder stays current.
The practicum binder is a great way for Teacher Candidates to record their observations in the classroom, and it allows candidates to organize lesson plans and other resources.
Plan ahead… Stay organized!
SOURCE: Ontario Government

4. Five Required Sections
Your Practicum Binder should have the following 5 sections:
TEACHING TIMETABLES
OBSERVATIONS OF CLASSROOM
ROUTINES AND MANAGEMENT PLANS
LESSON PLANS
OTHER MATERIALS
SOURCE: Ontario Government

5. Grand Erie District School Board King George Public School
1) Teaching Timetables
Grand Erie District School Board
King George Public School
265 Rawdon Street
Brantford, ON
N3S 6G7
Phone:
Principal: Tom Smith
Associate Teacher: Linda Smith
Grade: 4
Classroom: 110
First Page…
Includes the following:
Name of the School Board
School Address
School Phone Number
Principal
Associate Teacher
Grade Level
Classroom Number
SOURCE: Ontario Government

6. Teaching Timetables Second Page…
Includes a weekly schedule of when classes occur with subject, titles and times. Teacher Candidates will highlight or outline the classes they will be responsible for teaching. If such a timetable doesn’t exist, Teacher Candidates should create one.
SOURCE: Ontario Government

7. 2) Observations
When Teacher Candidates are not teaching they will be observing associate teachers and will make observation notes. Use the categories below and organize your observations by putting each heading on a separate page with date entries. Observation notes include reflections and analysis of the observations.
Teacher Candidates must prepare these sheets themselves, and use the following headings:
Management Strategies
Instructional Strategies
Program Organization
Student Organization
Instructional Materials
Methods of Assessment and Evaluation
Responsibilities of the Teacher outside of the Classroom
Provisions made for Exceptional Learners / Differentiation
SOURCE: Ontario Government

8. Observations: Management Strategies
Establishment and maintenance of a positive classroom climate
Expectations for student behaviour in the classroom, halls, lunchroom, on school property
Routines- particularly transitions
Procedures for attendance, opening exercises, washroom, dismissal
Use of positive reinforcement
Method of dealing with unacceptable behaviour
Quiet signal and other signals
Effective discipline techniques
Student directed management strategies
SOURCE: Ontario Government

9. Observations: Instructional Strategies
Describe teaching strategies such as learning centres, discussion, lecturing, games, research and teacher-directed lessons, programmed learning, etc.
Ask yourself:
How does the Associate Teacher meet the needs of different learning styles?
How does the Associate Teacher introduce concepts?
List the variety of teaching strategies that are used
SOURCE: Ontario Government

10. Observations: Program Organization
School schedules and classroom daily timetable, program routines, subject integration, timetabling, routines and teaching responsibilities for special classes
Team teaching; role of assistants and classroom volunteers
SOURCE: Ontario Government

11. Observations: Student Organization
Class list, seating chart
Grouping procedures: whole class, small groups, independent study, peer learning
Provisions for combined grades
SOURCE: Ontario Government

12. Observations: Student Organization
Class List: include a list of all the names of the students in the class (first names are sufficient if confidentiality is an issue)
Also include a current seating plan, as applicable
TIP: Your Associate Teacher may be able to provide you with a class list Just ask!
SOURCE: Ontario Government

13. Observations: Instructional Materials
Use of chalkboard, bulletin boards, audio visual equipment, computers, books, kits, concrete materials, manipulatives
Location of materials and access to supplies and resources
SOURCE: Ontario Government

14. Observations: Methods of Assessment & Evaluation
Assessment strategies such as tracking, anecdotal records, student work folders, assignments, projects, presentations and tests
Describe the use of recording strategies such as rubrics, anecdotal notes and rating scales
TIP: Keep copies of assessment tools. They may be helpful in the future!
SOURCE: Ontario Government

15. Observation: Responsibilities of the Teacher Outside of the Classroom
Communications with parents, etc.
Supervision duty (yard, lunch, bus, etc.)
Extra-curricular activities
Curriculum and staff meetings
Health and Safety Issues (e.g. students with allergies, policies governing administration of medication, procedures during inclement weather, bomb threats, etc.)
Get involved! Accompany your Associate Teacher during supervision duty and extra-curricular activities if permitted.
If appropriate, attend meetings too.
SOURCE: Ontario Government

16. Observations: Provisions Made for Exceptional Learners
Accommodations of students with learning exceptionalities
Other learners who need attention with the regular classroom
TIP: Discuss this with your Associate Teacher and/or Mentor. Ask if there are any students with exceptionalities, or who require additional attention. Become familiar with the accommodations used.
SOURCE: Ontario Government

17. 3) Routines and Management Plans
Lesson Plans are NOT needed for routines.
Teacher Candidates will make a record of the various routines and categorize the routines into two categories:
MANAGEMENT-RELATED: e.g., opening exercises, entry/dismissal, fire drills, lockdown drill, nutrition break/lunch/yard/bus duties, washroom, pencil sharpening, absence and lateness, signals to focus attention.
CURRICULUM-RELATED: e.g. taking up homework, teaching a new song/fingerplay in circle time, spelling dictation, Show and Tell/Current Events, daily cursive writing/printing, bellwork, Problem of the Day, storytime/USSR/DEAR.
In each category, state the PURPOSE of the routine, and the PROCEDURE for the routine. Then indicate whether the routine is management-related, or curriculum-related. Some routines are focused on management of the class and others are related to meeting curriculum expectations.
SOURCE: Ontario Government

18. Routines and Management Plans
ROUTINE: DEAR Drop Everything And Read
PURPOSE: Students can develop literacy skills through independent reading. They also have the opportunity to navigate a variety of texts and media that are of personal interest.
PROCEDURE: Students select a novel or text to read independently. The first 15 minutes of Language are allocated to DEAR.
TYPE: Curriculum-related
ROUTINE: Attendance
PURPOSE: All students need to be accounted for, and absences must be tracked. The teacher and office need to be aware what students are absent.
PROCEDURE: The teacher takes attendance each morning after “O Canada”, as well as after the first Nutrition Break. At this time, she also asks for bus changes, notes, money to be collected, etc. To take attendance, the teacher says the first student’s name, followed by “GO”. The next student says their name aloud and this continues until the role call is complete. For fun, the class times themselves each day and they try to beat their record The student runner takes the attendance folder to the office.
TYPE: Management-related
SOURCE: Ontario Government

19. Sample Routines Chart
Routine:
Purpose:
Procedure:
TIP: Consider organizing your routines using a consistent format. A chart is a great example!
Routine:
Purpose:
Procedure:
Routine:
Purpose:
Procedure:
SOURCE: Ontario Government

20. 4) Lesson Plans
See pages in Practicum Handbook
Lesson plans include a daily organizer and will be located immediately before the lessons for a particular day. Teacher Candidates will put the most recent day at the beginning of the binder and will include all handouts, answers to a quiz, overheads, etc., used for the lesson. The handouts will follow right after the lesson.
Include all the lesson plans the Teacher Candidate has implemented throughout each term.
Reflections on each lesson are very important and should be recorded as soon as possible after the lesson is taught, particularly if the Teacher Candidate is teaching more than one lesson a day. The strengths and/or areas for improvement of each lesson should be noted. Think about how the lesson progressed and what could be improved.
A daily organizer is required when teaching consecutive days in April (e.g., the weekly plan or day plan, clearly indicating the lessons to be taught and their times).
TIP: Discuss your reflections with your Associate Teacher and Mentor.
What went well?
What might you change next time?
Did students demonstrate the expectations?
SOURCE: Ontario Government

21. 5) Other Materials
Additional teaching strategies, photographs of bulletin boards, classroom layouts, handouts, etc.
Photographs of students should not be taken without specific written permission of parents. Please check with your Associate Teacher before taking any photographs/videos in the school.
It should be noted that all materials maintained in the Practicum Binder need to be professional in content and will be reviewed by the Associate Teacher.
All Teacher Candidates must keep the original copy of their Police Vulnerable Sector Check and Workplace Education Agreement in their Practicum Binder at all times.

22. Practicum Binder and Evaluation
All Year 1 Teacher Candidates will be evaluated by their Associate Teacher (see pg in the Practicum Handbook).
The Evaluation will focus on the following areas:
Commitment to Students and Student Learning
Professional Practice
Professional Knowledge
In each area, Teacher Candidates will be deemed ‘Successful’ or ‘Unsuccessful/Needs Improvement’.
Be familiar with Year 1 Practicum Expectations (see pg. 10 in the Practicum Handbook)
Let’s consider how each of these areas fit into the Practicum Binder.

23. Commitment to Students and Student Learning
Shows initiative
Displays courtesy and respect for learners
Displays enthusiasm
Is accepting of constructive criticism
Is punctual and dependable
Is professional in appearance and deportment

24. Professional Practice
Communication skills with Associate Teacher and Mentor within the classroom:
Expresses thoughts clearly and fluently
Uses appropriate vocabulary
Listens attentively
Works with an individual student effectively
Works with small groups of students effectively
Conducts an established routine
Captures and maintains interest of students
Participates and works collaboratively with mentor on planning, implementing and assessing

25. Professional Knowledge
Practicum teaching binder reflects the classroom setting
Promotes student self-esteem by reinforcing positive behaviour
Recognizes the role as teacher
Recognizes and reflects on the importance of Mentorship

26. Questions?