Early Childhood Education
Site Experiences
Overview
Formal field/ site experiences, prior to student teaching, occur three different times in the ECE program of study and include the Early Field Block (sophomore year), the Literacy Block (junior year), and the Content Integration Block (junior or senior year). A minimum of 60 on-site clock hours are completed in each block for a total of at least 180 hours prior to student teaching. The program provides students with a system of blocked courses (courses that must all be taken together) prior to student teaching that include field experiences with social service agencies and with P-3rd grade classrooms with certified and experienced teachers. Each field experience is followed by class periods of "debriefing sessions." At least one field experience is in a culturally diverse setting. Supervising classroom teachers assist in the development of the field activities and assignments and receive copies of the candidates' assignments prior to the beginning of the experience.
Early Field Block Field Experience
Typically taken during one's second year in the Program, candidates spend five full days at a pre-school during the Early Field Block and complete assignments prepared collaboratively by Early Field Block Instructors. At pre-schools, candidates note developmentally appropriate practices (DAP), develop a case study on a child's performance with books and print concepts, and critique unified arts activities.
Literacy Block Field Experience
Literacy instruction is the focus of this field experience. During the Literacy Block, students spend ten consecutive school days in a 1st- 3rd grade school setting. Prior to their field experience, ECE candidates work closely via email with the classroom teachers designing web-based units that complement, extend, and enrich the classroom curriculum. Candidate committees visit each school site prior to the field experience. Once in the field, candidates team-teach collaboratively prepared lessons, develop cooperative assignments, and integrate web-based reading and writing activities to enhance students' learning. The field assignments provide candidates experience in developing fluency and comprehending text; vocabulary, conventions for reading, writing, and spelling; administering informal diagnostic procedures for reading, writing and spelling; and adapting curriculum and materials for young children using center-based instruction. These assignments benefit not only the pre-service teachers, but the children and classroom teachers as well.
Content Integration Block Field Experience
An overriding theme of the Content Integration Block (CIB) and the associated field experiences is total curriculum integration. Students spend ten consecutive school days in a K-3 school setting. Early in each semester, block instructors and teachers at partner school sites meet to develop plans for the field experience. Candidates visit their school classroom at a mutually convenient time prior to beginning the 10-day experience.
CIB assignments are determined by the goals/ objectives of the early childhood courses in the block, which include math methods, science methods, social studies, technology integration, health and pedagogy for teachers, assessments and evaluation, and Curriculum Integration II. The overall goal of the CIB is for pre-service teachers to design an integrated thematic unit for a K-3 setting that they will implement over a consecutive two-week period. The unit consists of a minimum of four lessons, two learning centers, and one interactive bulletin board. Most CIB field assignments are incorporated into the science methods. In addition, alternative assessment techniques taught in the assessment and evaluation course, such as rubrics and checklists, are included in each lesson or activity. Each candidate participates in a team assessment of a special needs child. Candidates also provide a written reflection for each lesson and activity in their units. Besides presenting their units to their classmates and interested faculty and staff members, pre-service teachers also participate in a group debriefing session after their field placements.
Student Teaching
Student teaching is provided by means of EDT 419.E, Early Childhood Student Teaching (15), a semester-long course consisting of full-time classroom teaching and a weekly seminar. Candidates enroll in EDT 419.E either semester of their senior year. A student may elect to have a single placement for the entire 16-week semester in which they teach or to have a split placement consisting of two back-to-back eight-week assignments at two different grade levels.
The student teacher is assigned a cooperating teacher or teachers, who has certification and teaching experience in Grades K-3 and who serves as the student teacher's primary clinical professor (mentor, teacher, and guide). Among other duties, the cooperating teacher confers regularly with the student teacher, the university supervisor, and assists with and requires the planning of lessons and units by the student teacher.
The student teacher is also assigned a university supervisor, who is the university representative and instructor of record, responsible for ensuring the existence of effective interaction between the student teacher and the cooperating teacher, for serving as the student teacher's secondary clinical professor, for conducting the seminars, and for grading the student at the end of the term. All university supervisors have training in Pathwise and/or Praxis III, the Educational Testing Service's systems for mentoring and evaluating first and second year teachers, which has been adopted as the system on which the State of Ohio will base licensure application decisions for beginning teachers.
The schedule and topics of the student teaching seminars are determined by the university supervisor. The seminars may or may not have predetermined agenda, since significant seminar discussions arise from the current concerns and interests of the student teachers. The university supervisor may conduct the seminars or he or she may utilize special seminars organized or conducted by the Career Planning and Placement Office or by the Office of Student Teaching. Attendance at these seminars is mandatory.