MAY 4TH
COVID ALTERNATIVES: If you are having issues with finding places to observe or teachers to work
with during these challenging times, I would like to propose a couple alternatives to the Practicum
assignments.
Interviews with current practicing teachers will count in place of observations. If you have colleagues,
family members, or know teachers who are willing to chat, this may be a great alternative for you.
You are also free to pair up and work with each other to discuss the themes of the weekly
assignments in the spirit of collaboration, you can connect with your peers in the Private Forum and
also Questions to Instructor Forum.
FInally, GCU has some excellent pre-recorded resources that may work great in place of the weekly
observations. You can choose and watch the videos and not have to schedule interviews or
observations. Here is the link to the resources that are located in the Student Services Center:
[Link]
Using multiple sources of student data helps educators develop lesson plans best suited to their students’ individual
needs. Observing, assessing, and analyzing data is a part of the learning cycle.
Allocate at least 2 hours in the field to support this field experience.
Observe a lesson in a K-3 classroom. After your observation, collaborate with your mentor teacher to discuss the
assessment cycle. Keep your data from your clinical field experiences, as it will be used in the benchmark
assignment in Topic 5.
Ask your mentor to identify a student who would benefit from targeted teaching. Targeted teaching provides an
opportunity to intervene and support the learning of one student more closely.
Discuss with your mentor teacher how anecdotal data for creating targeted teaching strategies (intervention activities)
for students have been collected and organized. Important information to consider might include strategies the
teacher has used in the past, students’ responses to the teacher’s selected strategies, level of students’ engagement,
and things that motivate the students. This information will help you develop appropriate strategies to enhance the
learning of identified students.
Use any remaining field experience hours to assist the mentor teacher in providing instruction and support to the
class.
For this assignment, write a 250-500 word narrative explaining how the teacher uses data-informed decision-making
and data organization systems to create lessons. Describe how your mentor teacher collects data on individual
students to create instruction to meet their needs. Discuss the benefit of creating lesson plans that are aligned to the
learning objectives and serve the learning needs of students.
APA format is not required, but solid academic writing is expected.
This assignment uses a rubric. Review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the
expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Refer to the LopesWrite Technical Support articles for
assistance.
Document the locations and hours you spend in the field on your Clinical Field Experience Verification Form.
Submit the Clinical Field Experience Verification Form to the LMS in the last topic. Directions for submitting can be
found on the College of Education site in the Student Success Center.
