Information for Math 399

Math 399 is the early field experience class in which students will spend 20 hours visiting a high school or middle school classroom and reporting on their experiences. The main purpose of this experience is for observation – you are not required to teach or present any lessons. In order to enroll in Math 399 you must have taken Math 329 as a prerequisite or have consent of the instructor.

Steps for Finding a School Site for Math 399

Note: It is the student’s responsibility to find a school site for observation and participation. For a directory of school districts and all public schools in San Bernardino County visit: http://www.sbcss.k12.ca.us/distSite.php. If you choose a school within San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD) you must have a Background Check done by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s office before entering the classroom. Below is the procedure for obtaining this clearance. If you choose a school that is not within SBCUSD, you will need to contact the school district directly for their specific requirements to gain clearance to volunteer in a classroom. It may be similar to the procedure described below or there may be additional requirements such as getting a TB skin test and a live scan.

For clearance in SBCUSD:

Find a school in SBCUSD (see http://www.sbcusd.k12.ca.us/ for a list of schools).
Contact the school principal to verify that observing at that school site is available.
Get a “Volunteer Form” – You can get this from either the SBCUSD school campus or from the SBCUSD campus police.
Fill out the form. Make sure to state that you are an undergraduate student in the Bachelor of Arts, Teaching Track program at CSUSB and you are satisfying a requirement for Math 399.
Take the filled-out form to the Sheriff’s office and ask them to do a “background check” since you will be volunteering in a SBCUSD school. The fee for this is $10. You should be able to get approval immediately from the Sheriff’s office.
Take this approval form to the SBCUSD school police to have it verified.
Take the verified approval form to the school in which you will be volunteering and give it to the school administrator. Also take the “Letter of Introduction for Field Experience” and the “Student Placement Form for Field Experience”. Complete the appropriate sections of these forms.
Return to school site to pick up the student placement form and turn in to your Math 399 instructor. You are now ready to get started!

Addresses:

Sherrif's Office
655 E. 3rd St
San Bernardino, CA 92410
Phone #: (909) 387-3545

SBCUSD Campus Police: 
536 West Baseline St.
San Bernardino, CA 92410
Phone #: (909) 388-6130

Math 399 Checklist:

Have you:

Taken Math 329?
Found a high school, one you possibly would like to work for in the future, to complete your field experience hours?
Read the "Steps for Finding a School Site" handout?
Contacted the school and/or district to ask what their clearance requirements are for you to do observations?
Completed the clearance requirements set by your school of choice?

See the appropriate informational handouts in the Department of Mathematics (JB 370) or contact the BATT Coordinator, Dr. Laura Wallace, at (909) 537-7113 or wallace@csusb.edu.