EDUC 697 :  Practicum II

Instructional Unit

Purpose:

            The overall purpose of the unit assignment in Practicum II is to guide interns in the development of their competency in the complexities of long term planning, in using assessments to guide instruction, and to evaluate the impact of their instruction upon the students in their class. Also, it provides a sample of the interns’ work as a teacher.

            Specifically, through the unit assignment, interns will demonstrate the following:

• Knowledge of the children in the assigned classroom
• Knowledge of the unit’s content
• Knowledge of appropriate state content standards, pacing suggestions, and sequencing
• Effective planning by
  • Using knowledge of children, learning theory, curriculum, and content to develop appropriate learning opportunities for the students
  • Using multiple teaching strategies
  • Providing learning opportunities that encourage problem solving and creativity
  • Adapting for diverse students
  • Using analysis of pre-assessment to select learning opportunities for the students
  • Using multiple assessments to guide daily instruction
• Quality analysis of the post assessment and the instructional impact on the students.
• Ability to reflect on long term planning, implementation, assessment, and impact on students.

The Practicum II instructional unit will be reviewed and supported by the Mentor Teacher during the three stages.  The unit will be scored by the University Supervisor and Mentor Teacher after the unit has been taught and all reflections are complete. The unit rubric will be submitted to the University Supervisor with the Practicum II paperwork at the end of the internship. Candidates have the option to create and Unit Binder to house the unit materials or develop and share the unit electronically, using a Taskstream folio. 

Directions:
Candidates will be plan either two 5-day units or one 10-day unit on topic(s) designated by the Mentor Teacher during Practicum II. Due to the variety of possible topics, the unit has purposely been made flexible. You are encouraged to integrate different content areas across the unit. One 5 day or the 10 day unit must contain a service learning component.  This component should involve students in a community service experience related to the standards and instruction for the unit. A process of backward mapping should be used for the unit preparation and implementation, keeping the end result and unit goals in mind. Three steps should be followed- Preparation, Implementation and Reflection. Documentation of these three steps will be the essence of your instructional unit.  Before beginning the unit planning, review the rubric that will be used by the mentor teacher and the university supervisor to assess the assignment.  (See the last pages of this assignment.)

Stage One:  Preparation

Thoughtful preparation for teaching is the first step towards effective instruction and student learning. After consulting with the Mentor Teacher, candidates must identify the desired results for their instruction during the preparation stage. Below is a list of the preparation elements to consider as you plan long-term instruction.

1. Goals: Identify the Unit topic, as determined by your mentor, the grade level and the curriculum. Determine the overall goals, state standards and possible lesson objectives, as well as a pacing schedule. Consider opportunities for inquiry and content integration within the unit.
2. Students: Gather information about the students. Consider the geographic location of the school, community and school population, socio-economic profile and race/ethnicity of the group.  Consider the student characteristics such as age, sex, exceptionalities, achievement, developmental levels, culture, language, interests, learning styles, and skill levels. The Class Profile form is provided.
3. Assessment: Consider methods of assessment for unit/lesson standards and objectives. Develop and conduct a pre-assessment to determine student’s prior knowledge of the unit topic. Analyze data and use results to plan lessons appropriately.
4. Materials and resources:  Identify possible materials and resources for lesson planning, instruction and student use.
5. Instruction and Management:  Consider lesson introductions and procedures, universal design for learning elements, flexible groupings, and classroom management practices.
6. Home connection: Draft a home/school newsletter to inform parents about the unit topic. Identify possible topic-related activities that could be completed by parents and students at home. Have mentor teacher and university supervisor approve the newsletter before sending home with students.
7. Service Learning: Identify possible service -learning activities that could be related to the identified unit topic (required for one 5 day or the 10 day unit). The service-learning component could take one of three possible forms: working with the community (direct), raising money or collecting items for a charity or organization (indirect) and/or advocating for an issue or need of a group (advocacy).  Complete the Service Learning Planning guide.
8. Impact on Student Learning: Think about how the unit will impact student learning.  How will you engage the children?  What will the students know and be able to do at the conclusion of the unit?  How will they represent their learning?  What impact do you hope to have on them? What concrete evidence will you collect to show student learning?

Reflecting on the information gathered about the students, the unit content, and your consideration of the elements above, sketch out a visual overview of your unit (web, graphic organizer, etc.), with information about each of the listed planning elements above. This will provide a timeline and a sequence guide for the unit.

Once the Preparation steps are completed, arrange to meet with your University Supervisor to complete the Unit Preparation Interview. The Mentor Teacher should be involved in this interview, when possible. The University Supervisor will ask questions concerning the background information collected, the topic goals, timeline and the pre-assessment.  (See the questions on the Interview Form.)  The university supervisor will offer suggestions and confer with the mentor teacher.  At the conclusion of the conference, the university supervisor will sign the form. Prepare the following items to share with your University Supervisor and Mentor Teacher during the interview.

1. A listing of the unit goals and the content standards to be addressed in the unit.
2. The sketch of unit overview
3. Completed Class Profile
4. Listing of the unit resources
5. A copy of pre-assessment, the results and data analysis
6. Service-Learning planning guide  (when applicable)

Once you have completed the Unit Preparation Interview with your University Supervisor and your unit preparations have been approved by your Mentor teacher, develop the lesson plans that will be used to teach the unit. Each lesson will be completed on TaskStream using the long lesson plan form. At least one lesson should include description of the service-learning component that will be completed as part of the unit.

Stage Two:  Implementation

       During the second stage of the unit, the developed lesson plans will be taught. You should revise daily lessons based on the assessment data from previous lessons. At the end of each lesson, the candidate will reflect on the lesson and identify strengths and needs in their teaching, as well as changes to the lesson if it were to be taught again. Note that even though you plan a five day unit or a ten day unit, the actual teaching of the plans may take additional days.  Your university supervisor will observe one of your unit lessons unless there is some type of scheduling conflict.  During the follow-up conference they may ask you about other lessons in your unit.  Candidates should conference regularly with the Mentor Teacher about the unit during Stage Two.

As you are executing and revising your plans, consider the following questions:

1. How am I creating learning opportunities that reflect the developmental characteristics of the children? Am I considered the cultural context of the class?
2. How am I creating meaningful learning experiences that develop the students’ competence in subject matter?
3. How am I creating learning experiences that are appropriate for the curriculum goals and how students learn? How am I providing access for all students?
4. How am I using a variety of teaching strategies?  Have I allowed student choice?  Am I promoting creativity and problem solving?
5. How am I using a variety of assessments?  How have I included multiple ways students can demonstrate their learning?  How will I conduct a post assessment of the unit?
6. How am I adapting instruction to meet the needs of diverse students?
7. How is the service learning component contributing to the student’s attainment of the unit standards? (when applicable) 

All completed lessons should be placed in a Unit Binder or in a Taskstream folio. Samples of student work should be collected regularly during the unit, as evidence of impact on learning.

Stage Three:  Reflection
During this stage of the process, candidates will be reflecting on the success of the unit and analyzing students’ learning.  The following items must be completed and included in the unit binder or Taskstream folio.

1. Assessment Analysis:  Include pre-assessment data and analysis. Review daily formative assessments and reflect on how the lesson standards and objectives were met in each lesson.  Complete post assessment and compile the results in to a table or graph. Review the class data and identify two subgroups (girls vs. boys or middle ability group vs. high ability, etc.). Interpret the results for the class and the subgroup results for the unit.

2. Unit Reflection: Record your reflections on the unit by answering the following questions that are appropriate for the content you taught:
   1.  What was the best lesson of the unit?  Why?  Which lesson needed the most improvement?  Why?
   2. What learning opportunities did you plan and complete that demonstrated attention to diversity within the classroom?
   3. How did you engage and motivate all students during the unit? How did you develop student’s creativity, problem solving and critical thinking skills?
   4. What evidence do you have of student impact? What student work samples from the unit show growth?  How would you describe the impact of your instruction on student learning?
   5. How did you use a variety of assessments for the lessons and the unit?
   6. What challenges did you face in classroom management and how did you solve them?
   7. What did you learn from preparing and implementing this unit? 

3. Service Learning Reflection (when applicable): Reflect on the service learning component and answer the 7 reflection questions. Submit an electronic copy of your reflection to the folio on Taskstream. Submit a hard copy of the reflection to your university supervisors for submission to the Office of Clinical and Field Experience.

Add these analysis and reflection documents to your Unit Binder or Tasktream folio.  The mentor teacher and the university supervisor will read these reflections to assist them in assessing the unit assignment.

Grading: 

      The completed unit is to be submitted first to the mentor and then the university supervisor for assessment.  The unit represents a sample of your teaching and long term planning ability.

The following items are to be included and submitted for review for the unit assignment.

1. Title page with Unit title, the candidate’s name, and the date.
2. Unit Overview: List of goals and standards, visual overview
3. Description of class context, based on class profile and knowledge of students
4. Unit Preparation Interview Form
5. Daily lesson plans with reflections and appropriate student products.
6. Assessment analysis
7. Unit Reflection
8. Resource list
9. Home-School Newsletter /Parent Website
10. Service Learning Reflection (when applicable)

 The mentor teacher and the university supervisor work as a team to determine the score on the rubric after both have had time to review the materials in the Unit.  The rubric included will be used to assess the Unit Assignment.  The score is shared with the candidate.  If a criteria score is in the unacceptable range, the mentor and university supervisor will conference with the candidate explaining what parts need to be resubmitted.  The candidate needs to score in the acceptable range for all criteria in order to pass EDUC 697: Practicum II.

A copy of the scored rubric will be collected by the university supervisor during the final evaluation conference.  If two 5-day units are developed during the semester, only the rubric for the unit containing the service learning will be submitted to Office of Clinical and Field Experience at the end of the semester.