Shared Responsibilities
A successful internship is a partnership between the intern, mentor and university supervisor. The intern, mentor, and university supervisor share some responsibilities during the year. The key to success is open and honest communication among all participants.
- Participate in joint conferences (intern, mentor, and university supervisor) three times or more during the semester. (1) an initial conference to confirm responsibilities (2) a mid-semester evaluation and planning conference (3) an end-of-semester evaluation conference.
- Discuss an appropriate timeline of intern’s increasing responsibility in the classroom (moving from observation to co-planning and co-teaching to teaching responsibilities).
- Discuss expectations, formats, and guidelines for developing unit and daily lesson plans including how far in advance they should be given to the mentor for review. Identify and arrange for outside-the-classroom opportunities that will benefit the intern (observations of other teachers, participation in teacher meetings and in-services, parent conferences, committees, professional associations).
- Identify areas where the intern needs support and guidance in learning to teach, and develop strategies to promote the intern’s professional growth in these areas.
- Assist the intern in identifying strategies for coping with the various demands that they will face during the internship year.