What activities/experiences can be included in the pre-practicum and practicum logs?

DESE Definitions

Pre-practicum: Early field-based experiences in a variety of educational settings, integrated into courses or seminars that address either the Professional Standards for Teachers as set forth in 603 CMR 7.08 or the Professional Standards for Administrators as set forth in 603 CMR 7.00. For candidates serving an apprenticeship or employed as educator of record, these experiences may occur simultaneously with the practicum or practicum equivalent.

Practicum/Practicum Equivalent: A field-based experience within an approved program in the role and at the level of the license sought, during which a candidate's performance is supervised jointly by the sponsoring organization and the supervising practitioner and evaluated in a Performance Assessment for Initial License.

Pre-Practicum Guidelines

Note that the focus of the pre-practicum is variety. Your experiences are to focus more on observation than doing. TEC requires that at least 10 hours of the 40 involve observation of teachers. We expect that you will observe colleagues at your level and discipline as well as teachers in other subject areas and levels. You may include visits to other districts if you wish. Experiences you have had prior to enrolling in the TEC Licensure Program may be included as part of your pre-practicum.

If you are currently a teacher of record, there will be an overlap of pre-practicum and practicum activities. You cannot, however, include the same experience in both logs.

The remaining 30 hours may include:

• Attendance at job-alike groups, conferences, workshops
• Observation of school committee, faculty and department meetings
• Observation and/or participation in school-wide committees
• Interviews of other educators and administrators

Practicum Guidelines

The practicum focuses on experiences in the actual role of teacher. If you are currently a teacher of record, almost anything you do can be included as part of the log. You should, however, include activities that go beyond what you do in teaching lessons. No more than 120 of the hours logged should focus solely on what is done in the classroom.

If you are not a teacher of record (apprentice teacher), you need to log 200 of the 300-hour requirement in actual classroom teaching.

The remaining hours for both teachers of record and apprentice teachers can include any non-classroom activities such as the following:

• Peer observation
• Non-instructional assignments required of teachers such as study halls, cafeteria duty, and resource room coverage
• Attendance at staff meetings
• Participation in school-wide committees
• Participation in district or school-wide professional development
• Attendance at job-alike groups, conferences, workshops
• Curriculum development
• Extra help sessions for students
• Other items as approved by the program coordinators