School Practicum Courses Required before your Student Teaching Semester

Our program is designed to get you into a classroom working with children and adolescents as early as the Fall Semester of your sophomore year! We also encourage you to investigate undergraduate summer internships that will enable you gain additional experience with a diverse range of students.

As a result, you will have completed four field experience practicums in a variety of school settings before you enter your student teaching semester. Below is a description of these four courses that will enable you to observe and work with children and adolescents as part of the course.

In this course, you will investigate how civic engagement has shaped American History. We will analyze the similarities and differences between the ways that citizens actively participate in contemporary American society, versus how they have done so at key junctures of the past. We begin the course by collectively defining what it means to be an engaged citizen, then work together to identify core American values and attitudes essential to encouraging an engaged citizenry.  You will work with students in 4th and 8th grades to propose ideas for applying those ideas and attitudes within their community.

Field Experience Practicum: 3 school visits during the final one-third of the course

When you should take this course: in Fall Semester sophomore year (preferred)  or Fall semester Junior year

This course examines aspects of diversity (e.g., gender, class, language) in secondary schools and classrooms. You will review the foundations of multicultural education and considers implications for curriculum, instruction and classroom management.

Field Experience Practicum: 18 hours in a Middle School

When you should take this course: in Spring Semester sophomore year or Fall semester Junior year

This course examines socio-emotional and cognitive development of adolescent learners; psychological processes underlying learning, motivation, and classroom behaviors; and teacher-student and group processes. It addresses implications for creating learning environments that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.

Field Experience Practicum: 18 hours plus 8-10 additional hours in a High School

When you should take this course: in Fall or Spring Semester Junior year

This course will help you engage with the theory and methods for teaching social studies to middle and high school students. It will bring together social studies content knowledge and pedagogical approaches that you have learned from your past education classes as well as your content classes. You will learn to create lessons, activities and assessments that encourage your students to become civically engaged in all levels of society. As part of this preparation, you will spend three hours nearly every Friday working with the students whom you will be teaching in the spring.

Field Experience Practicum: a minimum of 30 hours in the middle or high school where you will be student teaching in the spring.

When do you take this course: only in the Fall of your Senior year—the semester before you student teach.

• We highly recommend taking HIST316 before EDUC419
• We highly recommend taking EDUC419 before EDUC413
• We highly recommend NOT enrolling in HIST316, EDUC419 or EDUC413 at the same time.
• Students must leave time for their field placement free on their schedule. See the course notes BEFORE you register for times.
• Students are responsible for their own transportation (e.g., driving, taking a bus, finding a carpool, using Zipcar, etc.).
• Students in any course with a field experience in which they are working with or observing children under the age of 18 (e.g., schools, community centers) must have a valid TB test and a valid federal criminal background clearance. Criminal background fingerprinting clearances must be on file at the Office of Clinical Studies by the first day of the semester. TB clearances must be on file at Student Health Services prior to the first scheduled placement. A Child Protection Registry clearance is also required. The form must be submitted to the Office of Clinical Studies prior to the first day of the scheduled placement. The Office of Clinical Studies provides details on obtaining fingerprint and TB and Child Protection Registry clearances when registering for this course.