Update: Feedback for Dr. Branch

Dr. Branch is very interested in "customer service" and has asked for feedback for his presentation. Please make a comment so he may receive valuable information to infuse into future offerings.

Journal Response #5: So Now What?

Provide an overview of your clinical experience. What went well? Any obstacles? What is your take away? How would you define the Peace College Conceptual Framework? “Those that can; TEACH!” So will you?


Please post by 12:00 pm on 4/27/08. Good luck!


Also please take some time to view video via the link provided in previous post and give some feedback to Mr. Ervin. Thanks!

Educators Boring Students To No End

Mr. Ervin, our technology speaker, has provided one more unique opportunity for you.

Video Link

What are your thoughts about this video? Is this kid learning more at home or at school? As an educator what can you do to break down the technology divide of classroom instructions? (provide some real life example.

Please provide Mr.Ervin some feedback to his query.

Thank you!

Journal Response #4: Professionalism

Make arrangements with your clinical teacher to attend a school, team, PLC, SST or IEP meeting. Describe the level of professionalism utilized. Provide specific details from the meeting you observed. What are the perils if there is a lack of professionalism among teachers and administrators? Who and what would be impacted? What is your definition of professionalism?

What feedback do you have for our guest speaker Karen Hamilton?

Update: Assignments and Rubrics

You will find the directions and a link to a rubric for you autobiography and lesson plan essays. Enjoy!

Lesson Plan Essay

Download a lesson you would like to teach. In a 3 page, 12.font, double-spaced, 1-inch margin essay explain your purpose for choosing this lesson. Provide an overview of the lesson objectives, materials, and means of evaluation. How does it align with North Carolina SCOS? Provide specific goals and objectives from NC SCOS. What aspects of the conceptual framework does it incorporate? How could you incorporate another content area into the lesson plan? What are your ideas for a follow-up lesson? Ensure that content is clear, easy to follow and original with appropriate grammar and punctuation. Attach copy of lesson plan when turning in final copy.

Rubric Link

Update: Praxis I Review Session

Here is the information for a review session for Praxis I. Thank you Mary Kathryn!!!
This sounds really good!!!


The meeting is on Thursday, March 27 at 5:30 - 7:00

We will meet in Pressly 200.

Please bring pencil and paper as we will be working problems and taking some notes. Do not bring a calculator as you cannot use one when taking the test. Do not
panic about that fact! The problems are designed so that the calculations are not difficult. We will practice without calculators.

Please come late or leave early if you have a conflict with this time.
Also, please make every effort to be at the review session. This is an
aid that Peace College wants to provide for you at no charge, so take advantage
of it.

We will talk about a time for the second session at this one. If you
cannot come at 5:30 any day, suggest an alternative time outside the
regular class times.

Conceptual Framework Autobiography

Select a teacher or several teachers from your previous or current educational experiences whom, in your opinion, exemplify the tenets of the Peace College Conceptual Framework for Teacher Education. In a 5 to 7 page essay describe, in detail, your experience with the teacher(s). Provide specific examples of how he/she/they demonstrated aspects of the framework. What impact did the teacher(s)have on you?

Rubric Link

Update: Class for March 19th

Our class will meet at normal time in Flowe 214. Be prepared with a specific grade level and content area you are interested in exploring. We will be reviewing North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) Standard Course of Study (SCOS). This activity will ultimately enable you in finding and evaluating an Internet lesson plan aligned with your area of interest.

Any questions? If so please post a comment.

Have a GREAT week!

Ms. Hiltz reports that you guys are doing a "SUPER job"! Kudos to all!

Update: Teacher Education Club Meeting

The Teacher Education Club will meet on March 18, 2008 from 5 to 6 pm in Flowe 215. A guest speaker will address issues relating to teaching students with learning disabilities. Please, join us to meet other teacher candidates and receive valuable information that will inform your future practice.

Teaching ALL Children

Thank you, Mary Kathryn, for this poignant window into the world of teaching.

We Are Responsible For Children

We are responsible for children who put chocolate fingers everywhere, who like to be tickled, who stomp in puddles and ruin their new pants, who sneak Popsicles before supper, who erase holes in Math workbooks, who can never find their shoes.

We are responsible for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire, who can’t bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers, who are born in places we wouldn’t be caught dead, who never got to the circus, who live in an x-rated world.

We are responsible for children who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions, who sleep with the dog and bury goldfish, who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money, who cover themselves with band aids and sing off key, who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink, who slurp their soup.

We are responsible for those who never get dessert, who have no safe blanket to drag behind them, who watch their parents watch them die, who can’t find any bread to steal, who don’t have any rooms to clean up, whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser, whose monsters are real.

We are responsible for children who spend all their allowance before Tuesday, who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food, who like ghost stories, who shove dirty clothes under the bed, and never rinse out the tub, who get visits from the tooth fairy, who don’t like to be kissed in front of the carpool, who squirm in church and scream in the phone, whose smiles can make us cry.

We are responsible for those whose nightmares come in the daytime, who will eat anything, who have never seen a dentist, who aren’t spoiled by anybody, who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep, who live and move, but have no being.

We are responsible for children who want to be carried and for those who must, for those we never give up on and for those who don’t get a second chance, for those we smother…. And for those who will grab the hand of anyone kind enough to offer it.
– Ina Hughes

Rules, Rules, Rules

Please feel free to post any concerns or questions you have about rules in the classroom. What are the classroom rules for some of the grade levels at Partnership? How are they facilitated? Are they effective? What makes a good rule? What thoughts do you have about rules as you think about future practice?

Consider the purpose of rules:safety, meeting goals, and telling students what to do. Rules must pass the Dead Man's Rule!

Journal Response #3: Diversity

Is diversity celebrated or overlooked in your clinical experience? Complete the diversity worksheet. Describe, analyze and reflect on the results. How is diversity addressed? What are some practices you might use in your own classroom? Were there practices that you would change or improve upon? Why is diversity an important aspect in classroom culture? What is the fit for diversity in the Conceptual Framework?

Please post your response by 12:00 pm March, 16th.

Journal Response #2: Teacher Interview

Interview a teacher using the following questions as a guide (you make ask any questions you deem important or any follow up questions). Describe, analyze and reflect upon the teacher's responses and summarize what you learned from the interview. How does the teacher's responses align with the Conceptual Framework?

1. What experiences influenced you to become a teacher?
2. Describe your work history.
3. What is your teaching style and how do you accommodate the different learning styles in your classroom?
4. What do you consider to be your greatest strengths and how do you use them in teaching?
5. How do you challenge the slow learner and the advanced learner in the same class?
6. What procedures do you use to evaluate student progress besides using tests?
7. What current trends in public education do you consider to be very positive? Negative? Why?

Please maintain confidentiality by either using a pseudo name or initials only when referring to the interviewed teacher.

Please post before midnight on February 10th, 2008.

Update: New Student

Let's welcome Laura Thompson to EDU 200. She completed her Bachelor's at Western. She comes from a long line of teachers in her family. Please feel free to post a comment or introduce yourself to her. Thanks for joining us Laura!!!

Update: Partnership Rotation and Verification Form

Please check our class blog often to receive any updates, clarify any misconceptions and/or address any questions concerning the clinical experience or assignments.

I will check the blog frequently so feel free to make any comments to the updates and ask any additional questions in order to meet your needs. The "updates" are not an assignment, but rather, serve as a forum for us to stay connected and to clear up any issues on a real time basis.

ISSUE 1: Rotation in the clinical experience will be as follows: On January 22, Leslie and Lyndsay should have gone to K; Tamara and Latoya went to 1st; and Mary Katherine and Amy went to 2nd. Next week, January 29th, all groups WILL rotate up one grade level, i.e. Leslie and Lyndsay will go to 1st, etc. Once your group has reached 5th, your group will rotate back down to any lower grades you have not yet seen starting with K. For example, Mary Katherine and Amy started in 2nd, the week following their 5th grade experience will be in K.

ISSUE 2: Verification Forms: My picture is each week, each of you will get one of the teachers in the grade level you worked with to sign your ORIGINAL form. You will make a copy of that form to turn in to me the next time we meet. KEEP your original form and use it to continue to have a teacher fill it out each time you are at Partnership. In this way, I will have evidence of your accumulation of hours over time.

Response Journal #1: Partnership Elementary

Describe the physical state of Partnership Elementary. How does this impact the teaching and learning process? How would you describe the classroom climate, teachers' style of instruction and the involvement of students? What were your initial reactions, thoughts, questions or concerns as you completed your first observation? Remember describe, analyze (So what?), and reflection(change and future implications).

Please post your response by 12:00 pm on Sunday, January 27th. No exceptions.

Welcome to the future!

You will have opportunities to prepare students for the 21st century as prospective teachers. What role will technology and WEB 2.0 applications, such as blogs, have in the classrooms of future teachers?