The Seminar on Student Learning and Methods for Teaching prepares students to step into the classroom and begin their clinical experience. Classes meet for two 80-minute sessions and one 80-minute laboratory per week. The laboratory sessions are led primarily by educators from area schools and are focused on work in literacy, special education, linguistic and cultural diversity, and other topics directly related to the course content. Students also work with practitioners from local schools, called Content Instruction Specialists, on subject-specific methods for their area of certification. Students participate in 22 hours of school-based field experiences during which they work with a host teacher in their respective teaching fields to learn about grade level-specific curriculum and pedagogy. Students observe in an urban school, a school that serves students with linguistic learning disabilities, and in a local public school. The field work includes the teaching of at least two lessons in which students must demonstrate their ability to apply the instructional and curriculum planning skills learned in the course.
The seminar is a full-credit course and is typically taken in the fall or spring semester prior to the first semester of student teaching (TPP 404). TPP 301 may be used to fulfill the Social Analysis (SA) distribution requirement.
NOTE: If a student earns a grade of B- or lower in TPP 301 or if a student earns below a B- on the teaching portion of the course, the Program Director will review the student’s performance with the possibility that the student may not be allowed to continue in the program.