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School District Administrator & Teacher Feedback

Common Themes


Professionalism

Teacher candidates are willing to learn and bring fresh perspective to classroom, however?

  • Many teacher candidates lack initiative, motivation, and passion for their occupation; unwilling to go the ?extra mile?, i.e. arrive early, stay late, attend extra curricular activities
  • Professional attire is still an issue; teacher candidates must understand they are entering a conservative profession and must put their best foot forward ? cover all body parts and tattoos, take out extra piercings
  • Understanding of what is happening in the world, NYS, and within their chosen occupation is lacking; need to be well educated/informed citizens able to carry on intelligent/timely conversations
  • Stronger GPA and overall better performance needed before student teaching experience


Technology

Teacher candidates have good knowledge of general technology, however?

  • More SmartBoard training is needed
  • Teacher candidates need exposure to interactive technology/21st century technology including SmartBoards, ELMO, interactive tablets, clickers (student response systems), ipads, Google Apps


Classroom Management

Teacher candidates are typically welcomed into the classroom by the students and have knowledge of some different teaching styles and discipline strategies, however?

  • More classroom management strategies and experience needed; teacher candidates can not only use one method as it does not work with all students
  • Teacher candidates should be given a broader range of behavioral management skills to pull from
  • Teacher candidates should take an ?Effective Teaching? course just prior to student teaching


Alternative Teaching Methods

The majority of teacher candidates do an outstanding job with the two weeks of solo teaching, however given the new teacher evaluation process fewer teachers may be willing to ?hand over? classroom for two weeks, therefore?

  • Collaborative teaching or co-teaching may be much more accepted by teachers while providing teacher candidates with useful, team oriented experience and exposure to another way of teaching
  • Teacher candidates need more mentored hands-on teaching experience earlier, prior to student teaching
  • Provide teacher candidates more variety in methodology, educational psychology and brain theory


Communication

Teacher candidate communication with sponsor teacher is timely, and communication with supervisors and Office of Field Experience is very good, however?

  • More exposure to writing courses stressing proper grammar, spelling, and overall writing ability is needed
  • Teacher candidates need to go beyond e-mail and texting when communicating with teacher and district
  • Teacher candidates seem to lack instruction in speaking properly, grammar, and spelling
  • Teacher candidates need instruction with ELA and Literacy on aligning standards with how to facilitate classroom instruction, specifically in ELA with a 90 minute block of classroom instruction


Special Education

With increased numbers of students requiring extra assistance in the classroom?

  • More special education coursework is needed, at all grade levels
  • Better understanding and incorporation of UDL in lesson planning is needed


Multiple Certifications

SUNY Potsdam offers multiple certifications and programs, however...

  • Teacher candidates need to be encouraged to get multiple certifications going forward to make themselves more marketable ? now and in the future