Second Clinical Experience (ILAS 301)
ILAS 301 consists of two parts:
- 50 hours of clinical experience: an off-campus component in which students observe and participate for 25 hours at the middle school level and 25 hours at the high school level. Every effort will be made to assign students to a district within 60 miles of their place of residence during the ILAS 301 clinical experience. Students are responsible for providing their own transportation.
- 6-7 required seminars: an on-campus seminar component in which students attend presentations led by public school teachers and administrators and participate in small-group discussions
* In both cases, students observe and participate in classrooms under the supervision of qualified school personnel in the subject area in which they are preparing to teach and complete activities linked directly to the seminar topics.
Primary goals of ILAS 301:
- Allow candidates to interact with students in a more active manner
- Introduce candidates to strategies for addressing the diverse learning needs of students within their content areas
- Introduce candidates to the process of lesson planning
Seminar topics include:
- Middle school philosophy, structure, and methods
- Diversity
- The Achievement Gap
- Teaching Reading in the Content Area
- Teaching English Language Learners
- Learning Styles
- Lesson Planning
- Motivating the Unmotivated Student
Teacher Assistance Program (NIU-TAP):
We have formed partnerships with several districts for the ILAS 301 clinical. Our teaching candidates serve as teaching assistants in the classrooms in which they are placed. The schools benefit by having skilled and motivated NIU-CLAS teaching candidates assisting their teachers and students, and our teaching candidates benefit by getting significant hands-on experience and working with diverse student populations.