Field Placements

​During the Spring semester of your senior year, after you have completed all of your coursework and have passed your Praxis II exam,  you will spend fourteen weeks student teaching in a middle school or high school classroom EDUC400 (Student Teaching: Social Studies) is your 9-credit teaching practicum. You will work closely with your cooperating teacher, your supervisor, and your Methods professor. At the same time, we will prepare you in your student teaching seminar, HIST493 (Problems in Teaching History and Social Studies), to seek out and get that perfect teaching position---to get a job at last!

Teaching is a full-time job (plus!) that demands your full effort! Please avoid trying to hold part time jobs while student teaching. The more successful you are as a student teacher, the better your job prospects are for the future!

EDUC400 is a 9-credit student teaching experience that combines teaching and observation.  The Office of Clinical Studies determines the beginning and end dates of student teaching in order to adhere to State of Delaware requirements for certification.

Observation time is that time when the student teacher is watching someone else do something. Teaching hours are defined as  whenever the student teacher is working with or responsible for children. This includes hall duty, cafeteria duty,etc. Most student teachers end their experience with far more actual teaching hours than observation hours.

Student teachers are responsible for recording their time. A self-reporting log form is provided below for recording student teaching time. Student teachers should place the log where s/he will see them on a daily basis and remember to record his/her hours each day. Reconstructing hours, after the fact, is extremely difficult.

Area school districts require those working in their buildings to dress professionally. Review these commonsense guidelines and make sure to review the dress code at your field placement site.

Schools reserve the right to ask candidates to remove jewelry (e.g., pierced body jewelry) or to leave the placement to change their inappropriate clothing.

• Office of Clinical Studies  - for information and forms related to field placements such as criminal background checks and other clearances, dispositions policy, and capstone evaluations.
• Office of Certification and Accreditation - for any questions related to teaching certification in Delaware and other states.
• Delaware Center for Teacher Education - provides support services for teacher preparation programs at the University of Delaware.
• Be sure to maintain your hours both in the Fall and Spring semesters using the Student Teaching Self-Reporting Log