ELED 494: Internship I
 Instructional Unit

Purpose:

            The overall purpose of the unit assignment in Internship I is to guide candidates in the development of their individual competency in long-term planning, in using assessments to guide instruction, and in evaluating the impact of their instruction upon the student learning.

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

• Knowledge of the students in the assigned classroom
• Knowledge of the unit content
• Knowledge of appropriate standards, pacing suggestions, and sequencing
• Skills in planning by
  • Using knowledge of students, 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
• Analysis of the post assessment and the instructional impact on student learning
• Ability to reflect on long term planning, implementation, assessment, and impact on students.

The Internship I Instructional unit will be reviewed and supported by the Mentor Teacher during the three stages.  Candidates will compile all unit artifacts and the reflection documents completed during each stage to a Taskstream folio.  A link to the webfolio must be sent to the Mentor and Supervisor at the beginning of the semester. Both the Mentor and Supervisor should monitor the unit development. The unit will be scored by the University Supervisor and Mentor Teacher after the unit has been taught and all materials are complete. The unit rubric will be collected by the University Supervisor with the Internship I paperwork at the end of the internship.

Candidates placed at the elementary grades will teach the unit with their assigned class. Candidates at middle school will deliver the unit to at least one section/class in their assigned content area.

Directions:

     The unit will consist of series of lessons on a content topic designated by the Mentor Teacher.  Due to the variety of possible topics, the unit has purposely been made flexible. However, all units must involve students in using the writing process or applying writing to learn strategies. Interactive technology must be part of at least one unit lesson, with students actively engaged in using the technology. 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-Planning, Instruction and Assessment. Documentation of and reflection on these three steps will be the artifact of your experience with long-term instruction during the internship.

Home/School Communication:

In order to develop a positive relationship between the home and school, the unit will include a Unit Newsletter. You will draft a home/school communication document to inform families and caregivers about the unit topic, timeline and activities. At least 2 relevant resources for families, including one topic-related activity that could be completed by family/caregivers and students at home. This newsletter must be reviewed and approved by the Mentor Teacher, University Supervisor and School Principal. After approval, the newsletter should be sent home at least a week before unit instruction begins.

 The FSU Parent/Guardian Release Form must be sent home to families at the start of the internship, in order to allow the collection of student work and videoing during the unit instruction. All signed forms should be collected and stored by the intern.

Stage One:  Planning

Thoughtful planning and preparation for teaching is the first step towards effective instruction and desired student learning. The planning section must be complete and the Unit Planning Interview should be completed before moving to the Instruction section of the unit.

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 planning requirements and corresponding reflection question for this stage.

Planning reflection questions should be answered in a Microsoft Word document, with a maximum of 10 pages. This document should be uploaded to the Planning section in the Taskstream Folio. A template for this document is available in the Tasktream folio template. References to the planning requirement documents should be included as evidence to support responses to the Planning reflection questions.

Once the Planning stage is completed, arrange to complete the Unit Planning Interview with the University Supervisor.  Prepare for the interview by storing the planning requirement items (see list above) and planning reflection document in your Internship I Unit folio on Taskstream. Send your Supervisor a link to your folio prior to the interview. During the interview, the University Supervisor will ask questions concerning the unit planning. (See the questions on the Unit Planning Interview form.)  The University Supervisor will offer suggestions on instruction and will confer with the Mentor Teacher.  Both the Supervisor and Mentor should sign the Planning Interview form to indicate the completion of the Planning stage and approval for moving to the next stage.

Stage Two:  Instruction

       During the second stage of the unit, the all lesson plans will be developed and taught.  Candidates should revise daily lessons based on the assessment data from previous lessons. At the end of each lesson, you should reflect on the lesson and identify strengths and needs in your teaching (see daily lesson reflection questions). All completed lessons should be linked in your Taskstream Unit folio. The following components related to teaching must be included in the unit.

 Instruction reflection questions should be answered in a Microsoft Word document, with a maximum of 10 pages. This document should be uploaded to the Planning section in the Taskstream Folio. A template for this document is available in the Tasktream folio template.

In addition to daily reflections in each lesson plan, you are encouraged to make notes related to the Instruction reflection question after each lesson, in order to aid in your completion of those questions at the conclusion of the unit instruction.  References to the video and lesson plans should be included as evidence to support responses to the Instruction reflection questions.

Candidates should conference regularly with the Mentor Teacher about the unit during the Instruction stage. The University Supervisor will plan to observe at least one of the unit lessons, unless there is scheduling conflict. 

Stage Three: Assessment
During this stage of the process, you will analyze student learning and reflect on the success of the unit and analyzing students’ learning. Identifying student information (names, etc) should be removed from any student work. The following items must be completed and included your Taskstream Unit folio.

Assessment reflection questions should be answered in a Microsoft Word document, with a maximum of 10 pages. This document should be uploaded to the Planning section in the Taskstream Folio. A template for this document is available in the Tasktream folio template. References to the assessment documents should be used as evidence to support responses to the Assessment reflection questions.

Grading: 

The unit must be completed by the end of the Internship experience. The completed unit is to be submitted to the Mentor and then the University Supervisor for assessment by the last day of the internship, via a link to your Internship I Unit folio on Taskstream.  The unit represents a sample of your teaching and long-term planning ability.

The required artifacts for Planning, Instruction and Assessment, along with the reflection questions for each stage of the unit will be the basis for unit scoring. 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 included rubric will be used to assess the Unit.  The score is shared with the candidate.  If a criteria score is in the ineffective range, the Mentor and University Supervisor will conference with the candidate and provide support by identifying unit elements that need to be revised and resubmitted.  The candidate needs to score in the Developing range for all criteria in order to pass ELED 494: Teaching Internship I:  PreK-9 Programs.

A hard copy of the scored unit rubric will be collected by the University Supervisor during the Evaluation Conference at the conclusion of the Internship.  The Unit scores will be entered in Taskstream by the Supervisor and the rubric is included in the materials collected by the University Supervisor for submission to the Office of Clinical and Field Experience at the end of the semester.