Host Schools and Mentor Teachers
As we plan for the upcoming school year, we want to thank you for all your work partnering with the University of Northern Colorado’s educator preparation programs. Whether hosting our students in their early field placements or working with a student teacher for a semester, we at UNC appreciate your commitment to our programs and to the preparation of the next generation of educators. Only by working together can we build a strong future teaching force for our state and the nation. Thus, we value our partnership with schools, and we want it to continue and to grow.
These are challenging times for all of us. We understand that Covid-19 has added significant changes to your work. In the true spirit of partnerships, we can help! Our candidates can bring new knowledge to the schools. For example, as we look toward an increase in online instruction, our candidates come to you with extensive experience with the use of technology. Educational Technology is required training in all of our educator preparation programs. In addition, our candidates know the perspective of your students as they take some of their university classes in an online format. Many UNC faculty who teach online have undergone training in teaching online and may be able to assist you in converting to virtual teaching.
The traditional field experiences you may have had in your preparation are becoming less of the norm, even prior to the pandemic. Mentor teachers and teacher candidates work collaboratively as a team, many times as a co-teaching pair. Though not experts, our candidates can come along side you, and with your tutelage serve as resources for breakout sessions, tutoring and, in situations where not all students are physically in the classroom together, provide virtual instruction. We envision emerging and veteran teachers working collaboratively, learning from one another to strengthen education in Colorado in order to best serve students and their families in this unique and difficult time.
Our program coordinators, faculty and field supervisors are available to answer your questions and provide resources to help you. They will work with you to make the candidate evaluation process as simple as possible.
Because many teacher education faculty members have taught online courses for many years with each teacher education candidate using a learning management system in every course at UNC, they’re uniquely situated to offer supports. They can help adjust lesson plans to fit the new learning environment and can provide recommendations on high quality resources available that fit the Colorado academic standards. They can also suggest ways to develop classes and schedules that will allow students to stay engaged when completing learning activities at home. Please feel free to reach out at any time: Contact Us
