Generally, the student teacher begins to write and use one formal lesson plan each day beginning the second week of student teaching in accordance with the time schedule established by the cooperating teacher. One of the primary causes of failure in student teaching is lack of effective planning and proper preparation for teaching. Planning helps student teachers organize materials. Being ready provides a feeling of confidence for the student teacher, as well as ensuring a more effective learning experience for students. A pacing calendar is provided in this manual.
Daily attendance is required of all student teachers.
Occasionally, students may be absent due to illness, accidents, religious holidays, or a death in the family. However, students who have long or repeated absences, for whatever reasons, will be required to retake the student teaching experience, EDC 484. For each day missed, regardless of the reason, the student teacher may be required to make up the days agreed to by the university supervisor and the cooperating teacher. When student teachers must be absent, they must call the school, cooperating teacher and university supervisor. Plans for any lessons the student teacher was expected to teach must be available for use either by the cooperating teacher or substitute.