Seminar for Student Teaching in Special Education

Catalog description

The special education student-teaching seminar will guide the teacher candidate through her or his student-teaching experience by facilitating work and discussions on competencies related to becoming a successful special educator. As part of this work, the teacher candidate will complete both the edTPA and an electronic professional portfolio structured around the Illinois Professional Teaching Standards and the Council on Exceptional Children (CEC) standards. Seminar topics will cover best practices in instructional decision making, analysis of student learning via formative and summative assessments, self-evaluation of teaching practices through the use of action research, supporting diverse learners through a positive, prosocial learning environment, professional and legal obligations as a special educator, fostering positive parent and community relationships, seeking and obtaining a teaching position, managing the first year as a professional special educator, and becoming a teacher leader in the first year of teaching and beyond. In particular, the seminar will provide candidates with support in completing their edTPA and comparative case study projects that will be incorporated into their portfolio in Livetext, with a focus on how to conduct effectively action research in the candidate's own classroom, developing culturally responsive collaboration and co-teaching skills, professional ethics, and professional development plans for lifelong learning. Includes support for ISBE TPA.