The CalStateTEACH Community

Although there is no physical campus, CalStateTEACH student teachers, interns, faculty, and Regional Directors build a campus community, just as traditional students do. The difference is that the community is online. There candidates develop strong bonds with faculty and peers.

Marie Hatwan 3rd Grade Teacher

Instead of sitting in a classroom, I can integrate what I learn the next day and get instant feedback. I can ask my cohort for advice on different ways to address lessons. I love the challenge, and I enjoy being independent. There is a lot of work, but there has been no other time in my life I have learned so much so fast.

The web environment does not create a cold impersonal climate, as some may imagine. First, the online community allows candidates to communicate more easily with each other and faculty. They may participate in threaded discussions about a variety of topics, engage in "real-time" chats, or email each other one-on-one.

Faculty Portfolio Review

Second, outside of the website, the CalStateTEACH "campus" includes the school site where candidates work. Candidates gain significant personalized support from their assigned faculty member, who observes them at their school site at least once a month. Additionally, their cooperating and master teachers, or their on-site mentors (Employed Teacher Option), who are credentialed teachers at their school site, provide valuable assistance to CalStateTEACH participants.