In Brief:

• Sponsor Teachers are mentors for our Practicum Students

• Students spend at least 20 hours with their sponsor teacher and his or her classroom, including 10 hours of observation/assisting and 10 hours of preparing, planning, and teaching lessons

• Our practicum program is made possible by the cooperation of the Sponsor Teachers. We gratefully acknowledge and thank the many Sponsor Teachers who continue to offer their classrooms as a place for our students to develop all aspects of their teaching skills.

“Having a UVic Practicum Student changed the classroom dynamics in a positive way. The students benefited by having another English native speaker to converse with and learn from. As well, I enjoyed sharing teaching ideas with someone who was enthusiastic and keen.”
- Lisa Espinosa, Embassy Schools Victoria

Description

Sponsor Teachers find many advantages to having practicum students in their classes. The most obvious is having another fluent speaker of English who can provide teaching assistance. An additional teaching resource is welcome in any language classroom, and it can be invaluable when teachers are working with multi-level or large classes. Many of our practicum students have already done some teaching, and all have spent the previous term in a variety of language classrooms: observing, volunteering, and tutoring. Although practicum students have much to learn from the experienced teachers who agree to mentor them, Sponsor Teachers have commented that they also benefit, as the novice teachers often bring fresh and innovative ideas to their classrooms. It can also be rewarding for teachers to discover the depth and breadth of their own experience, as they realize just how much knowledge about language teaching they have acquired over the years.

For some institutions, an advantage of hosting practicum students is the opportunity to observe potential candidates for future volunteering and teaching positions.

At the end of the practicum, we ask the Sponsor Teacher and the Supervising Instructor to evaluate the student’s teaching performance and potential as a language teacher by filling out an evaluation form. The two evaluations form part of the student’s grade for Ling 376.

Guidelines for Practicum Sponsor Teachers

• Agree on a working schedule with the Practicum Student, which can be modified as necessary, in order to meet the 20 classroom hour requirement, including at least 10 teaching hours.
• Discuss class/course goals with the student to give him/her a sense of purpose while you work together. Provide a teaching model for the Student to observe, allowing time for him/her to reflect on that model before asking him/her to teach independently.
• Integrate the Student into classroom work – monitoring, assisting, correcting, modeling pronunciation, helping individuals, etc. – as much as possible during the 10 observing/assisting (non-teaching) hours.
  Assign clear teaching tasks of reasonable length that the Student will plan and deliver (at least 10 of the 20 hours). Encourage him/her to seek out his/her own materials and ideas, and/or introduce him/her to any required materials that you would like him/her to teach.
• If possible, go over the Student's lesson plan to ensure that it is appropriate. It is the Student’s responsibility to show you the plan early enough that s/he can make necessary changes before the lesson.
• Give the Student oral or written feedback on his or her teaching performance after each lesson, providing constructive criticism.
• Contact the Applied Linguistics Assistant (Christiani Thompson-Wagner) and/or Supervising Instructor promptly if any questions or difficulties come up.
• Complete a written evaluation of the Practicum Student's performance on a form provided by the Applied Linguistics Assistant (Nicholas), to be submitted to the Linguistics 376 Instructor within two weeks of the end of the Practicum.

*** We understand that the Sponsor Teacher’s primary responsibility is to his/her students. Sponsor Teachers are not required to provide lesson plans and materials for the Student, though guidance in these areas is appreciated. Sponsor Teachers should contact the Applied Linguistics Assistant (alassist@uvic.ca) to provide extra teaching support to the Student if necessary.

Testimonials

Our students aren’t the only people who benefit from our program; read what some of the Sponsor Teachers have had to say about their experience!

“The practicum student I sponsored was well prepared, motivated, enthusiastic, and multi-talented. I am still using one of her lesson plans! After she graduated, she was offered a job at our school and we consider ourselves fortunate that she is still with us four years later!”

- Anne Glommen, Embassy Schools Victoria

“I have had the opportunity to host a dozen or so practicum students over the past several years, and have always from it a very rewarding engagement for a variety of reasons. Through guiding them in their teaching, I feel I reflect on my own practice and can nip and tuck as I go, thereby engaging myself in a sort of active reflection on the work I am doing. I am also refreshed by the energy and innovations they inject into the class, and for a road-weary teacher that fuel is precious. I also find the older I get the less connected I am to “the scene” that may students enjoy exploring. The practicum students are better able to connect with my students on that front. It is also very valuable for our students to have such immediate access to a real live Canadian student, or Canada-based student. I have noticed more and more of the Linguistics students are not necessarily Canadian-born, but are advanced L2 learners, like my students, and this provides an interesting angle. These students become mentors for some on my students who intend to stay on at UVic. Overall, my involvement with the Applied Linguistics Program has been a very positive one. One that has certainly stimulated me in my work.”

- Cam Culham, UVic English Language Centre

Contact Christiani Thompson-Wagner (alassist@uvic.ca) if you are interested in becoming a Sponsor Teacher.