Field Placements

Our undergraduate Teacher Education Programs emphasize the importance of learning to teach by teaching.  We place students in area schools as soon as they enter a certification program.  For four semesters, generally their sophomore and junior years, they spend three to four hours every week in school classrooms.  By the time they begin their senior year student teaching semester, they already have approximately 200 hours of work in different schools and in four different classrooms.  They have worked with a variety of different teachers and students and have had the opportunity to think about teaching and learning in real settings, not just in the college classroom or working on a computer simulation.  The mentoring they received from classroom teachers over the two years in field placements is invaluable.  Because of these extensive field experiences, the seniors feel ready to tackle student teaching.
 

During the senior year student teaching experience, students spend the entire semester working in a classroom under the direction of the classroom cooperating teacher and a Hobart and William Smith Education Department faculty member.  The faculty member observes the student teacher teaching in the classroom a minimum of once a week for an extended period of time and works closely with the cooperating teacher and the student teacher to ensure that student teaching is a growing experience for the student teacher.  Student teachers work hard during their student teaching semester and have this to say about student teaching:

"You can't help but become completely engulfed in student teaching; it's so challenging, yet fulfilling and rewarding" according to Tricia Ike '00, who student taught English in middle school.

Christina Holmes '00 student taught in a 4th grade classrom and noted, "I've thoroughly enjoyed the experience!  I've had the opportunity to change lives and feel I've made a real difference."

Peter Reif '00, a high school math student teacher, commented, "I feel that our Colleges have an advantage over other schools because we gain two years' experience before we jump into student teaching.  That early experience is really important."

When school superintendents and hiring committees read our students' resumes, they are impressed with the number and variety of school experiences our students have had.  The field experiences are crucial to preparing students to be excellent teachers, plus they give our students an advantage as they seek teaching positions.