The Cooperating Teacher
Cooperating Teachers are teaching professionals who mentor, guide, and support teacher credential candidates on their path to becoming credentialed teachers. The goal of the school and Cooperating Teacher placement is to provide the credential candidate in-depth Student Teachings designed to practice and hone their skills in instructional planning and development, instructional strategies, student assessment, and classroom management.
Cooperating Teachers are extremely important for the development of an effective practicum environment. Cooperating Teachers serve as models for dynamic teaching and effective classroom management. It is important for Cooperating Teachers to allocate time accordingly to provide guidance and support to teacher credential candidates. Conferring regularly with the candidate is especially important in order to provide immediate feedback and the necessary coaching that leads to mastery of effective classroom practices. Conferring can take place before and/or after school or during a preparation period if appropriate.
The credential candidate’s student teaching experience is a time of trial and error, success and failures, triumphs and sometimes, frustration. The role of the Cooperating Teachers is to model, support, recommend, correct, counsel, and sometimes prod the candidate into “treading in unfamiliar waters”. The Cooperating Teacher’s encouragement and support will provide the candidate with the special assistance needed for them to achieve success.
Cooperating Teachers Roles and Responsibilities
- Provides a model of teaching for the teacher credential candidate to observe and adapt to their teaching style.
- Supports, models, and encourages the implementation of the Teacher Performance Expectations.
- Provides the teacher credential candidate an opportunity to observe, ask questions, and become familiar with the classroom management plan, to include routines, procedures, and overall organization.
- Assists the teacher credential candidate as they write and develop lesson plans, as well as a variety of class activities related to the course/grade level curriculum.
- Ensures that the teacher credential candidate writes measurable objectives to effectively assess their lessons.
- Empowers the teacher credential candidate by delegating and sharing authority as the teacher and classroom manager.
- Assists the teacher credential candidate in establishing methods of classroom control appropriate to the age and grade level of the students. Thereby, ensuring that the candidate inspires the respect of students through effective classroom management techniques.
- Provides the teacher credential candidate the opportunity to assess student work.
- Provides the teacher credential candidate constructive criticism, suggestions, and ideas.
- Models and provides the teacher credential candidate a variety of methods and styles of teaching.
- Assists the teacher credential candidate in identifying available instructional materials.
- Participates in three-way conferences with the teacher credential candidate and the University Supervisor to calibrate observations and ongoing progress.
- Completes and submits the Student Teacher Formal Evaluation Forms.
- Completes and submits an evaluation of the University Supervisor and Program.