100-Hour Requirement and Log | Tips for Students | Student Teaching | Workbook | Professional Behavior Guidelines | Other Thoughts

During the course of your Binghamton University program in teacher education, you will visit local area schools for field experiences. Through these experiences you will develop your understanding of pedagogy, curriculum, and the social, cultural and intellectual experiences of teaching and schooling. You will get to know teachers and students; you will occasionally help teachers by working with small groups or one-on-one with certain students. Your professors may also give you specific assignments connected to your field experiences. The following explains what field experience entails and what we expect of you regarding field experiences.

The 100-Hour Requirement and Your Field Experience Log
New York State has mandated that students seeking their first certification to teach are required to complete 100 hours of field experience linked to coursework and completed before student teaching.

Because you will be doing fieldwork course that require working with students in area schools (and this is considered research), we also are requiring you to take the tutorial called “The Protection of Human Participants in Research” which is located on the Human Subjects Research Review Office website.

The School of Education expects you to complete your fieldwork at sites arranged in conjunction with your course work. You may not freelance your field experience at a school of your choosing; formal arrangements must be made for your presence in any school. If you have a special situation or difficulty around this field experience requirement, consult your advisor. Under no circumstances may you make your own placements. Finally, it is expected that you will be able to arrange transportation to your placement sites.

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Many courses have a specific fieldwork requirement explained in the syllabus. You are responsible for documenting all your field experiences. You must, therefore, keep an informal log of your visits. The instructor may specify a format for your fieldwork log or may allow you to use your own system, as long as it includes the dates and times you visit and the general activities associated with each visit. You may count all productive time spent in the building—not only classroom work but observation in other classrooms, interaction with students and teachers outside of classroom, time spent in a study hall or the cafeteria—toward your 100 hours of field experience.

Tips for Students - Getting Connected With Schools for Field Experience
- When calling a school make sure to mention that you have been cleared by BU and school administrator to begin field experience. (include start date, teacher’s name, and leave multiple ways to be contacted). Inform Tami Mann at 777-5322, or tmann@binghamton.edu if you have not been contacted within 3 days of leaving your message with the school.
- Be ready to share any information about your course and related field experience (syllabi, assignments, etc).
- Be clear on special instructions (i.e. where to report, sign in, parking, etc.)
- Be punctual and professional at all times.
- Introduce yourself to the school principal.
- Share your special strengths/talents with teacher, as well as areas of interest/concern.
- Upon completion of field experience, be sure to thank the teacher/principal for sharing their classroom community with you.

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Student Teaching
When you complete your 100 hours of field experience, you will be assigned to an area school for student teaching. Here is some useful information about student teaching:

1) Placements are carefully made, tailored to best matches between student and cooperating teacher. It is assumed that you have adequate transportation to schools in the Broome-Tioga BOCES region.

2) Professional appearance and behavior is assumed; see guidelines below.

3) Communication is key. Make sure that you are organized, timely, and professional in all communication with your cooperating teachers and university professors.

4) Optimize your student teaching experience. Be enthusiastic, take careful notes, take initiative, and follow through on all work given to you by your cooperating teacher.

Student Teaching Workbook
The Student Teaching Workbook provides some general guidance about what to expect and how to insure a successful student teaching experience. This document complements the information that your professors will give you when you take the student teaching course(s). To download the School of Education Student Teaching Workbook, click HERE.

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Professional Behavior: Some Guidelines
The School of Education expects you to conform to professional behavior in all your interactions with area schools. You exhibit professional behavior when you:

* dress appropriately. No jeans, no revealing clothing, no extremely casual wear. You do not have to purchase a new wardrobe, but you do need to wear comfortable, clean professional attire.
* follow school procedures. Ask and learn where to park and how to sign in. Find out if the teacher has specific expectations for you.
* observe the confidentiality of professional relationships with administrators, parents, teachers, and students. Do not gossip about students or other teachers. It is unprofessional to comment about students or teachers in the faculty room, the cafeteria, the hall.
* understand the teacher's legal obligations: a teacher is legally responsible for students and curriculum.
* check with your teacher before deviating from the field experience arrangements drawn up for you. Do not simply drop in on any teacher's classroom to observe or decide that you are doing something other than what was assigned you.

Other Thoughts
Schools are dynamic environments, and repeated visits to the same class present valuable opportunities for professional growth. Observation can be a very active exercise, going far beyond a simple focus on the teacher. Take advantage of the opportunity to observe the same class more than once. Take notes of everything you see, hear, and think about: these notes form the substance of your log and perhaps the basis of assignments in your courses. Take time to reflect on what you observe in the classroom and the entire school. What do you notice about students and how they engage (or fail to engage) the work? How does the teacher approach the students? The curriculum? How is the classroom managed? How many students are in each class? What does the curriculum entail? What is the atmosphere of the classroom? Be alive to the opportunities presented to you.

Finally, please be aware that you represent Binghamton University. The way you present yourself reflects not only upon you but also upon all Binghamton University students in Education; your behavior may affect not only others' field experiences and internships but their future employment as well. We're counting on you to do us proud.