This article only applies to Tier 1-10 interns who are teaching this year. Please don't read this if that is not the case. It will only confuse you.
Some of you have fallen a little behind and might be worrying about whether you will be able to finish the program this year. I can't promise that everyone will finish, because we always have a few holdovers, but I can assure you that as of today, no matter your status, you still have enough time to complete everything this year. Whether you do so is totally up to you.
Let's first talk about what you've done so far and what you have left. I'm going to show you an IPIP that indicates a proper progression through the program, and one that needs a little attention.
First, let's look at our model student. Her course list looks something like this -
|
|
100.00 % - |
A |
Complete |
|
|
66.67 % - |
D |
Complete |
|
|
100.00 % - |
A |
Complete |
|
|
92.07 % - |
B+ |
Complete |
|
|
100.00 % - |
A |
Complete |
|
|
100.00 % - |
A |
Complete |
I have excluded Summer Academy courses from this course list so as not to confuse everyone. You can see that this intern has completed everything within their required course set. She still has one advisor visit for her 'Advisor Assessments' course, but since she has only had two visits to date, this is as complete as possible. If this intern has passed all of the required exams, all she has to do is ride out the rest of the year and she'll be certified in late May or early June.
Now let's take a look at an IPIP that needs a little work: This IPIP looks a little different -
Again, I have excluded Summer Academy courses. This is everything else. This intern has not completed PreObservations. I can tell she's looked at them because the grade is not represented by dashes. She's looked at Additional Professional Development too. She should concentrate on her Pre-Observations now, since they are well past due. Then she should address each course, in sequence after that.
What she might not realize is that many of these courses can be completed in under 5 minutes. Additional Professional Development and Advisor Assessments are perfect examples of courses where you simply document work that you have already done. This is usually true of Internship Observations as well. The point is that you shouldn't be scared to look at the assignments. They are not designed to take all of your time and they're not difficult.
I'll address each requirement below to prove it.
PreObservations
PreOservations need to be completed. If you did not complete them before you entered the classroom, you have to do them while you are teaching. The state of Texas won't give you (or us) a pass on this one.
If you turn them in this late, it would be a good idea to let me know too, because I usually don't grade PreObservations once school begins. 15 hours of the 30 hour requirement can be done via online video. Open the course to get the exact directions and the links to the online videos.
Additional Professional Development
This one should be easy. It should take 5 -10 minutes tops. Simply upload some document that describes training that you received from your school or that your school sent you to. I need two day's worth or about 14 hours, depending on how you report it. I will accept certificates from the training provider or your own document (spreadsheet or word processor) that tells me the following:
Your name
The trainer's name
The training title
The training date
The length of time spent in training
Again, this one is easy credit.
Advisor Assessments
Easy - - Every time your advisor visits you, go in and give me one paragraph where you self-evaluate. It's one paragraph. Don't let this one hold you back.
Internship Observations
Okay, here's a little secret - I'm not nearly as sticky on these as I am on Pre-Observations. It's very open ended. Just tell me what you saw. If you have attended extra-curricular events and have witnessed teachers dealing with students in the process, that sounds like an observation to me. If you monitor recess and other teachers are there, dealing with students, that sounds like an observation to me. Don't make this one harder than it is.
PPR Reviews
Plain and simple, you have to complete the online and attend the face to face reviews before you can take the PPR exam. Here is an important note though, Feb 26th is our last face to face review this year. If you don't make that one, you either have to pay to attend an independent review or wait until next year to take your test.
In years past, I would say "no problem man, you can just get another Probationary and do it next year." This year, your job might be on the line due to budget cuts. Don't let the PPR exam be the reason you don't hold a Standard Certificate when it's contract renewal time. I can't stress this enough.
Web 2.0
If you are a wiz at online stuff like Facebook and GoogleDocs then you'll fly through this. The hardest part of this course comes at the beginning. You have to create a blog. It's all down hill from there. I would get all of the other little pesky courses above done before starting Web 2.0, because it does require some focus. It is certainly not too late though (for those who haven't started it yet). If you are in that camp, just make sure you get it started by the end of March. That should still give you time to complete it.
But Micah, you say, I don't have all of those courses in my IPIP. I reply, You must log in to Moodle for a new course registration to appear in your IPIP. Here is how it works - The IPIP is like a snapshot of your Moodle grades, and the grades will be real-time, all the time. Course registration, though, is only updated each time you log in to Moodle (not just your IPIP). So if I register you for your PPR Face to Face review (course)in Moodle, but you never log in to your courses after that registration, it will never appear in your list of courses. I could even grade it (indicate that you completed the review) and it still wouldn't show until you log into Moodle again. That was a very lengthy way to say, Log in to your Moodle courses on a regular basis to make sure you are seeing everything.
If your courses still don't appear after you log into Moodle, then it's my fault. Call me or email me to let me know there is a problem.
But Micah, you say, I can't remember my username and password. First try your lastnamefirstname for the username and lastname for the password. Remember, all lower-case with no spaces. If that doesn't work, call or email.
I get a good number of calls each day, and I try to return all of them. Sometimes I fail, so if I don't return a call or email, please try again or ask our staff to help you. Heaven knows they do my job a lot better than I do.
-Micah Fikes
817-284-7731
