| Students going into SFW/A have several options regarding placement. Working teachers (assistant or head teachers) may use their own settings as fieldwork sites. Others may choose to be placed as student teachers in appropriate classrooms. Please consider the following options.
Student Teacher Fieldwork Experiences
Graduate students who complete fieldwork as student teachers can expect to be placed in educational settings that will meet certification requirements. Together with a Bank Street advisor, each student teacher will be expected to set very specific goals for his/her work in the field, to identify areas of intensive focus and to plan and tailor experiences to provide optimal opportunities for learning.
Over the course of the SFW/A year, it is expected that student teachers will work alongside experienced teachers, observe classroom practice and gradually participate in a variety of teaching, planning, and behavior management responsibilities. It is expected that student teachers will take on some specific classroom responsibilities while at the same time becoming increasingly mindful and involved in the classroom as a whole. They will receive feedback regarding their work from both the advisor and the cooperating teacher.
Advisors may require student teachers to visit other educational settings and sites, as part of their SFW/A experience. Student teaching placements are three full days/week except in special circumstances, when an equivalent amount of time will be scheduled (e.g., five mornings weekly). Each student teacher will determine the specific workdays for each placement in collaboration with his/her cooperating teacher.
Placements are arranged by the program director. The number and type of student teaching placements depends on the certification requirements of the New York State Department of Education.
Please note that placements extend beyond the Bank Street College semester calendar. Students are expected to continue in their placements even when Bank Street classes are not in session.
Student teachers are encouraged whenever possible to go to their placements before the official first day of school to meet with their cooperating teachers and to participate in setting up the classroom and early planning for the start of the school year.
Assistant Teacher Fieldwork Experiences
Assistant teachers who are using their work sites as SFW/A placements are required to have their sites approved by the program director before registering for SFW/A. Together with their advisors, they have the opportunity to set very specific goals, to identify areas of intensive focus, and to tailor their experiences to a very particular set of circumstances.
Assistant teachers? experiences will be limited to one setting and their roles in terms of teaching, planning, managing behavior and developing curriculum may be to some degree predetermined by the traditions and constraints of their work settings. Assistant teachers can expect that their advisors will require visits to other educational settings and sites. It will be expected that the graduate student will have professional days to use for this purpose and that visits will be planned in consultation with the advisor.
Head Teacher Fieldwork Experiences
Graduate students who complete fieldwork while working as head teachers enter advisement with unique needs and opportunities. They are required to have their sites approved by the program director before registering for SFW/A. Together with their advisors, they have the opportunity to set very specific goals, to identify areas of intensive focus and to tailor their experiences to a very particular set of circumstances.
Advisors may require working head teachers to visit other educational settings and sites. It will be expected that the graduate student will have professional days to use for this purpose and that visits will be planned in consultation with the advisor.
New York State Requirements
All candidates who are not student teachers need to anticipate an additional placement over the summer following their SFW/A year to meet the following criteria, required by New York State for all students in SFW/A. Program directors will provide information about these additional placements.
Early Childhood (birth to age 8):
1. Pre-K
2. Kindergarten
3. 1st-2nd grades
Childhood (grades 1 through 6):
1. 1st-3rd grades
2. 4th-6th grades
Middle School (grades 5 through 9):
1. 5th-6th grades
2. 7th-9th grades
Additionally, for candidates pursuing the bilingual extension, placement in a dual language/bilingual classroom setting is required. |
