The teacher candidate should become acquainted with school personnel, routines, policies, discipline practices, available resources, emergency procedures, and should establish rapport with students.
The cooperating teacher, university supervisor, and the teacher candidate should develop a long-range timetable for the candidate's gradual assumption of responsibilities in student teaching until taking control on consecutive, full days for a minimum of 5 days in a five-, six-, seven-, or eight-week placement and a minimum of 10 days in a ten-, twelve- or fourteen-week placement.
Observation with some participation in teaching is appropriate up to one week at the beginning of student teaching in a ten-, twelve- or fourteen-week placement, but less for a five-, six-, seven-, or eight-week placement, and prior to taking on each new teaching responsibility throughout the placement(s).
The candidate should begin by taking over transition periods and by teaching small groups and/or shorter well-defined lessons.
The first "solo teaching" should be in a subject area or skills area in which the candidate has the strongest background and ability. With success in the initial teaching experience, the candidate can take on lessons of increased length and gradually more than one lesson each day.
By the third or fourth week (in a ten-, twelve- or fourteen-week placement) the candidate should be in charge of the students for short periods of time. The time should continue to increase until the candidate begins full-time teaching. The cooperating teacher should remain readily accessible at all times.
In a five-, six-, seven-, or eight-week placement, expectations are compressed into a shorter time frame. Generally the candidate takes increasing responsibility so that by the third or fourth week, in a five- or six-week placement, or by the fifth or sixth week in a seven- or eight-week placement, teaching is full time (consecutive full days). How soon full-day and full-week teaching is achieved depends largely upon the teaching situation and the candidate's ability to teach and to manage the classroom.
The cooperating teacher will determine when the teacher candidate is ready to handle the class alone and is adequately prepared for any contingencies that may arise. The goal for the candidate is to assume full responsibility for teaching without the cooperating teacher in the primary teaching role.
The following are minimum requirements for full-time teaching based on length of placement:
5-8 weeks 5 consecutive days
10-14 weeks 10 consecutive days
It is wise to schedule the week(s) of full-time teaching prior to the last week of the student teaching experience. This allows the candidate to release teaching responsibilities gradually back to the cooperating teacher and frees the candidate to observe in other classrooms.
In the event that a school applies distance and/or hybrid learning models, the candidate, cooperating teacher, university supervisor, School of Education Dean, and Director of Field Experiences and Student Teaching will consult as to whether/how to proceed with the placement and to determine whether/how MN licensure requirements are affected.

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