EDU101Practicum

What is Practicum?
 * When UMF was going through its accreditation by [|NCATE] (the organization that scrutinizes us and makes sure that our teacher education program is indeed worthy enough to certify teachers for the state), we asked a former student, Tracey H., to make this [|Web site to tell the story]. Explore the Web site and see if it helps you understand what Practicum is all about.

To be eligible for Practicum you must:
 * **be a Secondary/Middle Education major**
 * **have a GPA of 2.0** (you must have the 2.0 GPA at the time you pre-register and you must still have it before your Practicum semester starts or you will be dropped from Practicum)
 * **have passing scores on all 3 Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators (Core) Tests**
 * **have completed ENG 100 with a C or better** (If there is an extenuating circumstance and you have not taken ENG 100 before applying for Practicum, you can possibly still get into Practicum, however you must complete ENG 100 with a C or better in order to obtain Professional Standing)
 * **have completed EDU 101 / SED 101** (or 125) **with a C or better in each** (you can be taking these courses at the time you register but you must have passed both of them with the C or better before your Practicum semester starts or you will be dropped from Practicum)
 * **have completed the Fingerprinting and Criminal History Record Check**
 * [[file:Fingerprinting and Criminal Record Check Instructions and Application.pdf]]

Here's what the Practicum calendar looks like for the semester

Other things you should know about your Practicum semester:
 * Practicum students may only enroll in one class in addition to the 12-credit Practicum course but it must start at 2:30pm or later.
 * Former Practicum students highly advise that if you can afford it at all, don’t take any other classes in the same semester as Practicum.
 * When working with your employer on a schedule for your Practicum semester, it’s best to work after 2:30 and/or on weekends. Even during times when you don’t have classes or seminars scheduled, you are expected to be available for group/team projects and will often prefer to work on your class work (even if it’s individual work) in a group with the support of your Practicum Block cohort.

Will you actually be able to survive Practicum?
 * Check out the [|"top secret" Web site] (made using Wix) made by a Practicum survivor. It really is supposed to be top secret. It was accidentally found through a Google search for something else. I believe it to be a very realistic picture of what the Practicum experience is like.

To apply for Practicum:
 * Meet with your advisor for pre-registration; get a printout of your approved schedule showing Practicum. Have your advisor sign the printout. Be sure to have an alternate schedule in case you are not able to get into Practicum for that semester.
 * Come to the Practicum Party with your signed printout. You will receive an email from Kristin Hickey announcing the date and time of the Practicum Party. In the past, it's been at 5pm and pizza has been served. At the party, you will fill out an application form, do some other paperwork, and meet with Beth Evans, the field supervisor for Practicum. When you leave the party, you will know if you are definitely in, on the waiting list, or not in for the coming semester. If you are either on the waiting list or not in Practicum, you will register for your backup schedule that you and your advisor came up with.

Registering for Practicum:
 * Kristin Hickey will manually register all selected students. She has to wait until after registration ends to do this. Do not panic when you don't see a schedule during registration. It really will happen.
 * If you are taking another class besides Practicum, it is your responsibility to register for that class through MaineStreet.

NOTE: After being accepted into the program, most transfer students (people who changed their major) do not get into Practicum the first semester they're in the program. For example, if you apply to transfer into the Secondary/Middle Education major by the March 1, 2008 deadline and are accepted for fall 2008, you will likely not be able to get into Practicum until spring 2009 or even fall 2009.