Clinical Experiences

Clinical experiences are an integral part of the teacher education program at Northwestern State University. Opportunities are provided for teacher education majors throughout their professional education courses to work in a variety of P-12 school settings.

Resources for Current Candidates:

Clinical Experiences - Resources for Current Candidates

Capstone Experiences

RESIDENCY/STUDENT TEACHING

Candidates are to submit an Application for Residency/Student Teaching form the semester before the anticipated beginning of enrollment in residency/student teaching.

Application deadlines: March 1 for Fall and October 1 for Spring

During pre-registration or regular registration, applicants must request registration through the . Applicants may request to enroll in additional semester hours by contacting the Director of Field Experience and Clinical Practice, Ms. Ramona Wynder at wynderr@nsula.edu. Additional hours requested must be scheduled to begin after outside the school day during which residency/student teaching will occur.

Resources for Residency/Student Teacher Applicants:

See form for options to submit; if submitted electronically, save form as PDF and title with LASTNAMEResidency/StudentTeachingApplication; Ex: MelderResidency/StudentTeachingApplication; e-mail to wynderr@nsula.edu

RESIDENCY/INTERNSHIPS

Candidates are to submit an Application for Internship form the semester before the anticipated enrollment in the two-semester internship.

Application deadlines: March 1 for Fall Internship and October 1 for Spring Internship

During pre-registration or regular registration, applicants must request registration through the School of Education. When applying for Residency 2/Student Teaching, applicants may request to enroll in additional hours by completing the form included with the Residency/Student Teaching application. All additional coursework must begin after the school hours for the host school.

Resources for Current Candidates:

See bottom of application on form for options to submit; if submitted electronically, save form as PDF, title with LASTNAMEInternshipApplication; Ex: MelderInternshipApplication). E-mail to wynderr@nsula.edu

Supervision of Clinical Practice

Candidates completing early field experiences are assigned to school sites and teachers by course instructors, and the supervision of those candidates is determined by the course instructor. Residency/student teaching and internship experiences and requirements are much more structured.

Each resident/student teacher is assigned a mentor/cooperating teacher and spend the residency/student teacher term under that person’s direct supervisor. A university supervisor is assigned by NSU and serves as an external evaluator and additional support person for the resident/student teacher during the entire experience.

Supervising a resident/student teacher or intern requires a clinical educator (e.g. mentor/cooperating teacher or university supervisor) to serve as an academic coach.

Clinical Experiences - Supervision of Clinical Practice - 2

A valuable learning experience for, especially, residents/student teachers (and interns, if circumstances allow) is a co-teaching experience where experienced teachers teach with the candidate. This co-teaching approach not only provides candidates opportunities to work hand-in-hand with mentors, but also it fosters a seamless transition into a candidate’s role as a full-time teacher during the resident/student teaching experience.

Co-teaching Strategies and Resources:

  • Alternative/Differentiated Teaching
  • One Teach, One Assist
  • One Teach, One Observe
  • Parallel Teaching
  • Station Teaching
  • Team Teaching

Academic Calendar

Academic calendars are located on the Office of the Registrar homepage.