EDCI 689 & EDCI 695

MAT Internship & Seminar in Reflective Practice in Teaching

Overview

The MAT program leads to a master's degree and an advanced NC teaching license.  The two accomplishments are actually separate accomplishments, and students apply for both graduation and licensure at appropriate times toward the end of their program.  To earn a teaching license, students have to successfully complete a semester-long, full-time teaching internship in a public school.  Key people for the intern are the host or cooperating teacher and the University supervisor, who will visit/observe the intern about 5 times during the internship.  Interns who are employed as lateral-entry teachers may have a school mentor but will not have a cooperating teacher.  They will have a University supervisor.

While taking EDCI 689, the MAT internship, students also participate in an on-line seminar delivered via WebCat. The seminar is designed to support MAT students while engaged in their internship.  The required work is built around student needs and tasks that are required in the internship, such as daily lesson plans, teaching videotapes, the teacher work sample unit (TWS) and the MAT portfolio.  The internship is described and the intern's responsibilities are spelled out in the section "Internship Information and Documents" on the MAT Handbook at this link.

Planning Lessons.  Lesson plans are required of all interns throughout the entire semester. When students are determining which type of lesson plan format to use and how to develop lessons, the guiding principle should be that they are long enough and detailed enough to guide the intern without being unduly repetitive.  Lesson plans should be kept in a notebook so that the intern's supervisor can get a clear understanding of what the intern has planned and is doing whenever he/she visits and observes.  There are many options from which to choose lesson plans, and the textbook used in the methods class (EDCI 617) contains several examples.  Sample lesson plans are linked on the MAT Handbook. Also, check out the links on Websites Related to Teaching and Learning.  Another good source of lesson plans and other resources is LearnNC.  The bottom line is interns have to have lesson plans every day.

Reflection & Analysis of Experiences. Reflection and Analysis are important components of the teaching-learning process.  Issues include curriculum, materials, planning lessons, behavior management, classroom organization, conflict-resolution, problem-solving, school law, teacher-student relations and parent communication, etc. 

Requirements for students in EDCI 689

• Lesson Plans
• Must be prepared one week in advance, in consultation with the cooperating teacher, and adapted or modified throughout the week. Lesson plans must be kept in a notebook and be available to observers at all times (includes university supervisor, cooperating teacher, and possibly others, such as principal). Supervisors may make both announced and unannounced visits.
• WebCat
  • Use the WebCat online discussion board for Reflection and Analysis to give suggestions, share experiences, deal with questions, trouble-shoot and solve problems.  The Discussion Board will be set up with topics organized by weeks. For the first couple of weeks, check in with comments about how it’s going as you get started. You will have a couple of weeks to settle in, and must start participating in discussions by the second week of the WCU semester. Thereafter, you should participate in discussion board discussions each week. This requires you to post your reflections, questions, issues and analysis once a week, and to respond to others’ postings. This is intended to be helpful. A sample week is posted to show you how this can work.
• Please post your contact & school information and schedule on the Student Homepage.
• MAT Internship Dates & Deadlines
• See the MAT Handbook, section on Internship.
• Graduation & Licensure
• Work toward completion of program and graduation requirements, such as the “teacher work-sample unit” (TWS) and the final MAT portfolio.
• Present TWS and MAT Portfolio at the end of the semester, ideally at least two weeks before graduation.
• Complete required paperwork to complete internship and apply for a NC teaching license.