University faculty members and adjunct instructors monitor students in the School of Education as they complete field experiences.
Note to Undergraduate Professors and Instructors
Does a course you teach involve required field experience hours for students? To find out, look at this linked document, Field Experience Level Descriptors, which details the purpose of each level of fieldwork as well as the related courses and number of field related hours for each course. Even if your course does not require fieldwork, you may choose to include it as part of your syllabus.
SLU's School of Education Field Office is here to support and document your efforts to provide intentional field experiences for our Billikens. Whether you wish to brainstorm together, need help finding a placement, want assistance with a formal request or thank you letter, or just want to touch base, please email Vasilika at soefieldoffice@slu.edu to set up an in-person, Zoom, or phone conference. (Special Note: In addition, the field office can help clarify or adapt field work in response to partner schools' changing health circumstances.) At the end of the semester (or shortly after), you will be asked to complete information regarding the field hours conducted, including a description, number of students, and number of hours organized by school type and location.
Ensuring Students Make the Most out of Field Experiences
Our students are already highly motivated to explore the real world of the classroom. Still, there are things we can do to make their experiences as meaningful and productive as possible. Please consider the following:
- Communicate the intention of the experience. Explain why and how the experience connects with the course objectives and content.
- Communicate the expectations of the experience. What should the student look for and do while in the classroom and while working with students?
- Allow for student input into the field experience if and where plausible.
- Be sure to debrief and reflect, either as a class, in small groups, or through conferencing to help cement the connection between theory and practice.
Helping Students Successfully Begin and End their Experiences
Required Clearance Documents
All students must acquire and submit certain clearance documents before beginning any field work. Please support this process by showing them the Undergraduate Field Experience Level Tabs for the level of your course(s). The field office will also send you an email letting you know which students are cleared. When this happens, please remind the other students to pursue completion of their clearance documents.
Field Experience Code of Ethics and Conduct
While students may have already read and signed a code of ethics form, please encourage them to reread it. Also, consider pointing out one or more of the items listed that seem especially relevant for your course's fieldwork. You may access the form here.
Documenting Field Hours
There are three ways field work hours should be documented. The first, mentioned above, involves your documentation on an end of semester spreadsheet.
Here are the two related to students' documentation:
- Field Experience Record - This record is in each student's Google SOE Field Experience folder. Please remind students to enter a row for the field experience related to your course so they can be ready come student teaching application time.
- Field Work Log Options - Students should complete a log or other documentation which
evidences the hours, location, activities, etc. along with signature or initials of
the host teacher, university supervisor, or professor/instructor. Here are three possibilities
provided for you, but feel free to adapt them or to create your own method.
a. Fieldwork log: Same site form
b. Fieldwork log: Multiple site form
c. Students' Thank You and Verification method: Have each student 1) send a thank you email to their host teacher, 2) list their specific dates and times of attendance in that email, 3) ask the host teacher to confirm the dates/times, and 4) upload the confirmation and original emails to their Google SOE Field Experiences folder.
Thank you for allowing the Field Office to support and spotlight your great work.