PRACTICUM BINDER WORKSHOP Organizing your Practicum experience…

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 12-13 in the Practicum Handbook.

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: 2007 Ontario Government

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: 2007 Ontario Government

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: 519-752-7486 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: 2007 Ontario Government

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: 2007 Ontario Government

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: 2007 Ontario Government

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: 2007 Ontario Government

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: 2007 Ontario Government

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: 2007 Ontario Government

Observations: Student Organization Class list, seating chart Grouping procedures: whole class, small groups, independent study, peer learning Provisions for combined grades SOURCE: 2007 Ontario Government

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: 2007 Ontario Government

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: 2007 Ontario Government

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: 2007 Ontario Government

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: 2007 Ontario Government

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: 2007 Ontario Government

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: 2007 Ontario Government

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: 2007 Ontario Government

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: 2007 Ontario Government

4) Lesson Plans See pages 22-28 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: 2007 Ontario Government

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.

Practicum Binder and Evaluation All Year 1 Teacher Candidates will be evaluated by their Associate Teacher (see pg. 52-23 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.

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

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

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

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