Undergraduate Teacher Candidate Handbook:Introduction
Welcome to student teaching at East Texas A&M University. This Undergraduate Teacher Candidate Handbook serves as your comprehensive guide to navigating your journey from student to teacher. These pages include step-by-step explanations of the paths to student teaching; local and state-level policies governing the teacher certification program; academic and character expectations for student teachers; as well as key contacts and support systems ready to help assist you through the process and achieve success.
Welcome From Curriculum and Instruction
Teacher Candidates:
We are pleased and honored that you have chosen to be a part of our teacher education program! East Texas A&M University has a long-standing commitment to excellence, and the College of Education and Human Services believes our well-developed program will continue our tradition of excellence in preparation of tomorrow's teachers.
The clinical experience is the capstone experience for a novice teacher. It is critical, challenging, and rewarding to all involved and a time of great professional growth. The clinical experience typically has a lasting effect upon a teacher’s outlook toward teaching, and therefore, greatly affects future generations of teachers and students.
As a teacher candidate, you will be putting into practice all you have learned through your coursework and field experiences, while at the same time learning from two other sets of expertise—those of your cooperating teacher or host teacher and field supervisor.
Teacher candidates, cooperating/host teachers, and field supervisors must function effectively as a team during this clinical experience. Good communication is vital to ensuring a positive experience for all involved. Ask good questions about your teaching, try new things, and study your environment … good teachers never stop being good learners!
We offer our best wishes for a powerful semester of learning as you join the next generation of professional educators!
~The Department of Curriculum and Instruction Team
Program Key Contacts
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Department of Educator Certification and Academic Services
Additional Resources
To learn more, visit the Department of Curriculum and Instruction or the Undergraduate Teacher Certification Program official webpages.