Across the internship year, course offerings and experiences in schools are designed to support interns in working to meet successfully a set of MSU Professional Teaching Standards that represent the knowledge, skills, commitments and dispositions that are needed to be an effective and responsible beginning teacher in today's schools.  In practical terms, this means interns--with ongoing support from their collaborating teachers, field instructors, and course instructors--will work to develop what we are calling Productive Habits of Practice--ways of habitually thinking and acting that are consistent with the four program standards:

• Planning for instruction/teaching (resources, pacing, big picture, integration, assessment)
  

• Making adaptations and accommodations for differences among students
  

• Establishing and maintaining collaboration and communication

• Building an inclusive learning community (management, equity, safety)
  

• Promoting community/parent connections
  

• Participating in ongoing inquiry
  

• Engaging in portfolio development processes (professionalism, ongoing learning, reflection)

The support that is needed to develop these Productive Habits of Practice will naturally vary according to the intern's professional learning needs and his/her classroom situation, and it will also vary according to the time of year. 

The year-long internship is organized in seven "phases" that represent different types of experiences and different types of support that will be needed to guide the intern's professional learning across the year.  Below is an overview of the phases:

FALL SEMESTER: Collaborative Unit Teaching and Practicum

SPRING SEMESTER: Guided Lead Teaching

College of Education | MSU | Department of Teacher Education | Team 2 |