Classroom Interactions in Mathematics and Science
Field Experience
Spring 2005
Dr. Jennifer Smith
An important element of any teacher education program is the field experience component. As a whole, the field experience component provides a set of learning opportunities that take place in ongoing “real world” classrooms and schools. There is strong evidence that prospective teachers who engage in purposeful field experiences build and increase their pedagogical content knowledge, come to depend upon professional practices as opposed to intuitive practices, derive satisfaction from exploring their achievements and disappointments, and develop the potential to be life long learners. Given the important role that field experiences can play in the development of a mathematics, science or computer science teacher, this experience is required in Classroom Interactions in Mathematics and Science.
Overview
There are seven components of the field experience, each will be described in greater detail below.
Field Visits
You will sign up for your field placements in class on _______________ . Please contact your mentor teacher as soon as possible in order to arrange a time for your first observation.
You will spend at least 15 hours in high school math or science classrooms over the semester; 9 hours will be spent observing and assisting teaching and learning, and 6 hours will be spent teaching your own lessons with a partner. It is recommended, but not required, that you present a brief lecture to the class during one of your scheduled early observations. Please discuss this possibility with your mentor teacher.
You will keep a timesheet to document these hours in the field and will turn the completed sheet in at the end of the semester. A copy of the partially completed timesheet may be requested during the semester as well, so that we can ensure everyone is keeping up with their observations.
I strongly suggest that you take notes during your field visits. Note the teacher’s policies, what students are participating, how the teacher handles disciplinary situations, what topics the students seem to be struggling with, etc. These notes will help you as you begin to plan your lessons. They will also be invaluable when you write your final reflection paper at the end of the semester.
Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of a class you are observing, and 30 minutes prior to a class when you are teaching, since last minute changes in schedules and plans can occur. You will need to sign in at the school's front office when you first arrive. Dress professionally! You are representing the University and the UTeach program as well as yourself. AISD's dress code can be found here: http://www.austinisd.org/newsmedia/releases/index.phtml?more=0700 .
Note: The timesheet details a schedule of field visits to which you should adhere. Please note that each “hour” represents one visit to the school, to be completed during the scheduled week. The observations are spread across the semester in order to give you time to reflect on what has been discussed in class and what you are experiencing in the field. You are encouraged to spend more time than is required in the classroom, but spending three hours in a classroom on a single day does not constitute three separate observations. One exception to this policy is that during each “teaching week”, you should observe and provide feedback for a team of your classmates during their teaching period.
Lesson Design
With a partner, you will teach two sequences of three consecutive lessons in your assigned classroom. The dates of the first “three day teach” are February 28-March 3 , and the dates of the second three day teach are April 11-14 . You will teach either Monday-Wednesday or Tuesday-Thursday, according to the preferences of you, your partner, and your mentor teacher. If you must change a date, this must be done prior to your first day of teaching and with the approval of the Master Teachers and the Instructor of the course. No exceptions or last-minute changes will be permitted.
Each pair of student teachers will study the AISD IPGs (Instructional Planning Guides: See http://www.austinschools.org/matrix/index.htm ) and work with their mentor teachers in order to determine the topics of the lessons. Mathematics lessons will be designed using a problem-based teaching method, and science lessons will utilize a science as inquiry structure. More information will be given about these teaching styles in class. When you go out to observe the class, you should take a look at the textbook as well, as it may be helpful in planning your lessons.
Each team will submit to me and to their mentor teacher a set of written lesson plans for evaluation approximately a week in advance, and will resubmit final copies of their lesson plans to the mentor teacher at least two days prior to teaching. We will discuss the specific structure of lesson plans in class.
Written Reflections of Teaching Experiences
Immediately after both three-day teaching experiences, you will write a 2-3 page reflection about the experience. See the “Assignments” handout for more information.
Analysis of Interactions with Students
You will have many opportunities to interact with students while in the field. The nature of teacher-student interactions is an important topic in this course, and so a component of the field experience will be devoted to collecting and analyzing data about your interactions with students. You will complete three of these analyses using an analytical framework called SATIC, which will be discussed in class. See the “Assignments” handout for more information.
Video CDs of Teaching
You and your partner are responsible for video-taping your teaching experiences. Video cameras will be made available at the school site, but you will have to provide your own tapes. You will transfer the videos onto CDs in order to more easily review them and select clips for your presentation. Information will be provided in class about the operation of the cameras and the process of transferring digital video data to CDs.
Permission forms will need to be distributed to the students in your class before you can videotape them. Copies of the forms will be given to you in the first weeks of the semester. You should distribute the forms to the students in the class as soon as possible. If any students refuse to be video-taped, they will need to be seated out of the line of sight of the video camera during the lessons.
Note: You will find your videos more useful if a person is operating the camera during the lesson. It is highly recommended that you bring along a friend to do this, or politely ask your mentor teacher if he or she would mind operating the camera while you are teaching.
Presentation
You and your partner will prepare and give a 15-minute PowerPoint presentation about your teaching experience. See the “Assignments” handout for more information.
Final Reflection Paper
In this 5-7 page paper, you will summarize and critically reflect upon the various components of your field experience in this course. See the “Assignments” handout for more information.