I'm currently substitute teaching and looking into starting a credential program this year. I'm curious how long your student teaching was/is and how it's divided. I've spoken to some friends who are teachers that completed programs at different universities and their ST was broken up differently. One had two 9-week assignments near the end of the program, another had two assignments near the end also but for a different amount of weeks, and yet another school had 5 weeks at the beginning of the program and 10 weeks near the end. Also, were you able to choose your school district? The two private schools near pretty much allow their students to choose the district, assuming the district has space. My friend was able to choose her child's school and complete both assignments at that school. The state university near me will take your preferences into consideration, but you cannot complete both assignments at the same school.
I completed a 5 year teacher ed (BS degree) program. Year 5, I started the school year in my first ST placement. It was 6 weeks. Then, we returned to university classes for about 5 weeks. Then, back to ST until almost the end of the school year. We had to have different placements both times (highly recommended if you get the choice). We did not have choice on our assignment. We could not ST at a school we attended, they also didn't want parent STs in their children's school.
Mine was 16 weeks at the very end. If you were special ed, you had a split placement. I wish the regular ed had split placements, too. When I was ST, I felt bad for the split placement students because just as soon as you got comfortable, it was time to leave. However, now I think they were lucky because they got to work with two grade levels and 2 very different teachers. I didn't realize until I got my own classroom how much my CT was a worksheet queen (but she wasn't a bad teacher!)....it would have been nice to get two different perspectives.
We had two seven week placements at the end of our program. One was a 1st-3rd placement and one was a 4th-6th placement (if you were secondary one was 7th-9th and the other was 10th-12th). They wouldn't let you choose placements, but sometimes you got places where you did one of your practicum placements. If you're in a place that allows you to secure your own placement I think that you would be still be better off to let yourself be placed, so that you have a chance to get into different buildings that you might not have gotten in otherwise.
My student teaching semester lasts as long as a regular university semester (17-18 weeks). I am a student teacher for high school Spanish. My program requires me to teach each class for a minimum of ten consecutive weeks. However, I am taking over classes in steps (I take over two classes after a few weeks of observations and then take over the remaining two classes after two more weeks). After I complete my 10 weeks, I slowly begin handing power back over to my supervising teacher. The last week of the semester is spent observing other teachers throughout the area and completing portfolio assessments and exit interviews. Thankfully, I not only selected my district but my school and supervising teacher. I do attend a very small private school in rural North Carolina, so that probably makes a difference. However, there are some limitations (only 8 districts to choose from, you cannot teach in a school you attended or that your child attends, some districts allow elementary school student teachers and others do not). I really lucked out with my placement.
I attended a university that's on the qtr system & to get a credential was 2 blocks (each block is a quarter long). They called them block for some reason?! Each block/qtr, you're assigned to a new class/cooperating teacher (CT). I got 2 credentials, so I really did 1 year of ST (which is 4 different schools/CTs for me)! It's hard to have genuinely excellent CTs that really care about your learning. One was truly astronomical! The other 3 were alright I guess.
We were required to do 15 weeks of student teaching, or more specifically, 75 days. I got to count an in-service day in there. I was placed in an 8th grade math class. If I was doing elementary, I would have had 7 weeks in lower elementary and 8 in upper elementary.
My student teaching was 1 semester long in the same classroom. I was able to do both elementary and special ed requirements because of inclusion.
Mine was 10 weeks during the final semester of my program. I had only one placement, from September through mid-November or so. I was also required to do 2 other field experience/observation things. I think I had to do like 150 hours for those.
I did 90 hours of observation as practicum, prior to student teaching. My part-time student teaching placement was from the end of August through winter break in December (2.5 days a week). I'm currently in my full-time placement which is M-F and lasts 11 weeks. I'll be done by the time spring break rolls around. I'm so excited!
My student teaching is divided into part A and Part B, 12 weeks total (6 weeks each part). I'll also be doing 100 hours of field observation and have an assignment in which I need to work with a secondary student.
Student Teaching Length At Cal Poly Pomona, student teachers are required to complete 2 quarters of student teaching. Quarters are 11 weeks total. This is by far the longest I have seen posted here and seems unfair.
