Generally, such activities will be under the sole discretion and leadership of your cooperating/supervising administrator.
These may include, but are not limited to, planning and leading professional staff development, working on public relations activities, developing school budgets, conducting curricular gap analyses, working with community groups, supervising student discipline, conducting teacher observations (with the explicit consent of the administrator and teacher being observed), etc.
Activities that count towards the Practicum requirement would be activities that fall outside the job description of most teachers, and do not include the types of work in which teachers routinely engage. When you enroll in the required Practicum course(s) in your program, you will also have assigned activities related to your Practicum. In addition, your cooperating/supervising administrator will complete formal evaluations of your progress. You will begin accruing practicum hours midway through your program over an expected three terms of enrollment in the program. You should plan to accrue at least one hour of Practicum activity per school day. Most students accomplish this either before the school day begins, after the school day ends, or during any free periods during the school day.
The summer and other school breaks also present excellent opportunities to accrue hours. With proper planning from the outset of your clinical practicum program, you will find the Practicum to be a meaningful and worthwhile hands-on learning experience.
Toni M. Terry, BA