Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Erin Gruwell And The Freedom Writers: Two Books Reviewed, Jessica Cannaday

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

Two books, “The Freedom Writers Diary: How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them,” by the Freedom Writers and Erin Gruwell, and “Teach With Your Heart,” also by Erin Gruwell will be reviewed herein. Together, they weave an integrated tale of discovery and self-actualization. This is true for both the students who undergo catharsis with diary entries in “The Freedom Writers Diary,” and for Ms. Gruwell who learns more deeply about who she is as a teacher, a professor, and a person, through a heartfelt journey to help 150 at-risk students find …

Perspectives Of A Summer Enrichment Academy: Participant And Observer Reflections, Lisa Penrod

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

Students and teachers rarely come together, at least in a meaningful way, outside the confines of the school environment. Seeing your students at Wal-Mart does not constitute “meaningful interaction”. This fact alone makes the GEAR UP Summer Enrichment Academy (SEA), held at California State University, San Bernardino in the summer of 2006, an epic event. The SEA brought students and teachers from the Rialto and Coachella school districts together with faculty from CSUSB for an intensive, enriching learning experience. Selected bright, young students were given opportunities to explore disciplines far outside of the range of their normal classroom experiences and …

Critically Prophetic Action In The Public Square: Transformational Insights For School And Community Leaders, Peter Miller, Max Engel

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Ladson-Billings’ assertion that students’ familial and cultural identities must be recognized and more fully incorporated into the educative process finds much support in the community of progressive educational scholarship, as countless academics (including bell hooks, Paulo Freire, Peter McLaren, and Henry Giroux) and activists (including Myles Horton and Ernie Cortes) have critiqued generalist models of education that ignore community assets in their structures and delivery. Ladson-Billings and others insist that when educational programs (both school and community-situated) are designed and implemented as if they occur in social vacuums they implicitly ignore unique community identities and modes of understanding. They relegate …

Attraction: The Secret Of Teaching, Learning, And Leadership, Kay Woelfel

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

The Secret, reveals that the single attribute that ensures success is one that every great educator has always had in his repertoire. Rhonda Byrne (2006, 4) says that “the greatest teachers who have ever lived have told us that the law of attraction is the most powerful law in the Universe.” Byrne points to poets, musicians, artists, and thinkers like Shakespeare, Beethoven, da Vinci, Socrates, Plato, and other legends. But lesser mortals, teachers and administrators in the field, also have known that “attraction” is the secret to school success. Jon Saphier and Robert Gower (1987, 2) put forth this idea …

Leading In The Mathematics Classroom, Jon Warwick

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Within the United Kingdom (UK) higher education sector there has been a considerable amount of debate in recent years about the level of quantitative and literacy skills exhibited by students on entry to university courses. Indeed the UK government commissioned two major reports on the development of skills at school level in the post-14 age range focussing specifically on the development of quantitative skills (Roberts 2002; Smith 2004) since there has been a sustained year-on-year fall in the numbers of students opting to study mathematics, science, and engineering subjects at degree level. Coupled with this reluctance of students to specialise …

Examining 4-H Robotics In The Learning Of Science, Engineering And Technology Topics And The Related Student Attitudes, Bradley S. Barker, Gwen Nugent, Neal Grandgenett, Amy Hampton

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Youths’ natural fascination and identification with robots make them an ideal teaching and learning platform. Robots would seem to be excellent hands-on tools to teach science, engineering and technology (SET) concepts. However, while research supports their use to increase interest and motivation, the effectiveness of robots to directly teach science, engineering, and technology concepts is less clear. The purpose of this study was to measure the effectiveness of a 4-H robotics program to support the learning of specific SET concepts and to examine related student attitudes towards science. This study compared the pretest and posttest scores on an assessment of …

What Helps Law Professors Develop As Teachers? -- An Empirical Study, Gerald F. Hess, Sophie M. Sparrow

Law Faculty Scholarship

The overall goal of this article is to provide concrete suggestions for how law schools can improve teaching and enrich law student learning. In doing so, it reviews and analyzes the data collected from two national surveys about the kinds of faculty development activities that are most effective in improving law professors’ teaching. One survey was designed to quantify how many law teachers engaged in twenty-two types of teaching development activities over the previous five years and to assess the effectiveness of each of those activities. The other survey focused on the effectiveness of a national conference on teaching and …

Exploring The Relationship Between Avid Professional Development And Teacher Leadership, Jeffrey Huerta, Karen Watt, Ersan Alkan

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Classroom teachers receive various forms of professional development throughout their careers with the intent of improving their teaching practices and ultimately, student performance. However, professional development can also have an impact on teacher leadership activities outside of the classroom as well. The purpose of this study is to assess whether professional development received from the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program has an effect on AVID elective teachers’ level of teacher leadership within their schools. Teachers from middle schools and high schools implementing, or planning to implement, AVID were examined in order to answer the following research questions: 1) Is …

Teachers' Perspectives On The Use Of Pedometers As Instructional Technology In Physical Education: A Cautionary Tale, Nate Mccaughtry, Kimberly L. Oliver, Suzanna Rocco Dillon, Jeffrey J. Martin

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

We used cognitive developmental theory to examine teachers' perspectives on the use of pedometers in physical education. Twenty-six elementary physical education teachers participating in long-term professional development were observed and interviewed twice over 6 months as they learned to incorporate pedometers into their teaching. Data were analyzed via constant comparison. The teachers reported four significant shifts in their thinking and values regarding pedometers. First, at the beginning, the teachers predicted they would encounter few implementation challenges that they would not be able to overcome, but, after prolonged use, they voiced several limitations to implementing pedometers in physical education. Second, they …

A Mentoring Process To Support Teachers’ Growth And Retention, David Bell, Earl Thomas

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

As educational consultants one of the pressing needs that we find administrators often recognize is the need for mentoring new and veteran teachers. Despite their concerns mentoring is often not part of the school system or it is executed in a haphazard manner. For example, when principals are asked to describe the current teacher mentoring system they often report that they just assign new teachers with veteran teachers who are willing to take on an additional responsibility. This suggests there is a lack of attention given to the importance of the quality relationship that must be established between mentor teacher …

Analyzing An Urban University's Diversity Dilemma, Melodee Landis, Angela Ferguson, Ana Carballal, Wilma Kuhlman, Sandra Squires

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Lack of diversity in the teaching force is proving to be a grievous problem for our country. Across the nation the percentage of teachers of color in our schools remains stagnant as the percentage of students of color increases (Gay, Dingus & Jackson, 2003; Gordon, 2000; Gursky, 1999). Councils have been convened and conferences held to confront the issue (National Collaborative on Diversity in the Teaching Force, 2004). This disparity between the supply and demand for a diverse teaching force not only violates our standards of equity, it also appears to have a deleterious effect on achievement of students, particularly …

Gen Ms 19 Fitts Family Collection Finding Aid, Daniel Draper

Search the General Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Description:

Bertha Rice Fitts was born in 1870, in Waterford, Maine. After graduating from Gorham Normal School in 1894, she became Master’s Assistant and eighth-grade teacher in Westbrook, Maine, before accepting a similar position at a grammar school in Quincy, MA. While in Quincy, she boarded with Mrs. Calvin Fitts, and in 1899 married her son, Arthur Fitts. She was involved in the Southern Branch of the Gorham Alumni Association for many years. The Collection consists of primarily late 19th c. commercial photographs of teachers and students of Gorham Normal School, plus photos of Gorham Normal School buildings, Bertha Fitts …

Teacher Migration From High-Performing Middle Schools: A Case Study, Richard Conley

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

I recently conducted fieldwork to explore the dynamics of teacher migration and understand how it relates to teachers’ perceptions and attitudes. The research was conducted through the eyes of a sixth grade language arts/social studies’ teacher working in a middle school I will refer to as PLC (Professional Learning Community) Middle School. By spending extensive time and conducting multiple interviews with the teacher and other staff members, I was able to explore some of the reasons and conditions why teachers leave schools, particularly high-performing schools to teach in other high performing schools. Attending weekly meetings at all levels and content …

Formulation Of “Questions – Answers” In Teaching-Learning Process As A Way Of Improving Learning Of Students At University Level, Mdel Mar Badia Martin, Candido Roselle, Antoni Tarrida

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

One of the main things in a process of teaching-learning consists of making hierarchical contents of the programs and to determine specific and clearly which are the objectives of the course. It is not always easy for a teacher to discriminate the relative importance of the program contents. If we consider that the questions the students do are a reflection of what the teachers consider important, the exams could be considered as an adequate source to know their opinion about the contents that a student on a topic should know. Nevertheless, more important than the content itself, is the form …

Defining Academic Vision, Roger Brooks

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Tying It All Together: Implications For Classrooms, Schools, And Districts, Ryan Flessner, Kenneth Zeichner, Kalani Eggington

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

Ryan Flessner, Kenneth Zeichner, and Kalani Eggington's contribution to "Creating Equitable Classrooms through Action Research"

Technology Follows Technique: Refocusing The Observational Lens, Anton Brinckwirth, Elizabeth M. Kissling, Kathryn Murphy-Judy, Carlos Valencia

Latin American, Latino and Iberian Studies Faculty Publications

Digital video is being applied to teacher training, development, and evaluation. This chapter evokes theories and practices of performance observation and improvement. It demonstrates facilitative media used in the design and implementation of a current interinstitutional project by the authors. Simultaneously, the implications of teaching evaluation techniques caught in the lens of digital observation technologies lead to considerations of their personal and social impact on the field of world language teacher training and professional development in the 21st Century. A more communal and non-hierarchical approach, called peer coaching, is advanced with a value-added digital video and e-community twist.

Bias And The Teachable Moment: Revisiting A Teacher Narrative, Darren Crovitz

Faculty Articles

Such responsibility may be vital for English teachers, especially, as we strive to establish communities of writers and spaces for critical thinking and conversation. When I sat down to write about this experience, I saw it as an opportunity to discuss a taboo situation and its positive aftermath, with the aim of demonstrating how it might be possible to use such events as points of departure in creating engaging writing assignments.

Simple Way For A Successful Path, Km. Nadeera

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Education is the basic path to create a complete person improving high thinking and analytical skills for solving problems. Certain defects of the science education would be observed in developing countries minimizing the nations’ strength towards the better development. Quality of the science education is the common fact to be considered in developing countries. Most of the developing countries are following western educational systems which are unsuitable for man’s strength in developing countries as a result of the colonization. Exam oriented teaching processes are going on without understanding and applications. Learner centered, activity based science education is unpracticed due to …

Volume 18, Number 01, G. William Hill Editor, Linda M. Noble Editor, Tom Pusateri Editor

Reaching Through Teaching

Full text of Volume 18, Number 01 of Reaching Through Teaching.

Providing Students With Effective Feedback, Kathy Dale

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

Feedback is a classroom process that has been under the researchers’ microscopes since the 1970’s to the present, and with good cause—it’s a teacher practice that works. Consistently, researchers have found that when teachers effectively employ feedback procedures, they positively and often powerfully impact the achievement of their students. In fact, Bellon, Bellon, and Blank note, “Academic feedback is more strongly and consistently related to achievement than any other teaching behavior….This relationship is consistent regardless of grade, socioeconomic status, race, or school setting….When feedback and corrective procedures are used, most students can attain the same level of achievement as the …

The Role Of Educational Leaders In Implementing A Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Designed To Increase The Learning Opportunities For Diverse Students, Frank Andrews

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal (2003-2012)

While there has been a dramatic shift in the demographic educational landscape of the United States, to a more culturally diverse student population, the characteristics of teachers and educational leaders have remained largely homogeneous. Classroom teachers and school principals remain predominately White, approximately 90%, and 84% respectively (National Center for Education Statistics, as cited in Taylor & Whittaker, 2003). According to many experts, the differences between school and home culture result in lower rates of academic achievement for diverse learners. This article focuses on the challenge facing educational leaders to respond to this demographic shift by leading the implementation of …

A Critical Exploration Of The Rhetoric Of Equity Belied By Practice In Postgraduate Teacher Education, Roisin Donnelly

Journal Articles

This paper presents the initial results of an investigation into the current awareness and perceptions of equity issues amongst academic staff working on a postgraduate learning and teaching course for teachers in tertiary education in the Republic of Ireland. The study is set in the contemporary landscape of discourses around equality, egalitarianism and equity in education generally. The Irish White Paper on Adult Education Learning for Life (2000) recommends that adult education should be underpinned by three core principles, one of which is to promote equality of access, participation and outcome for participants in adult education, with pro-active strategies to …

Can Blending Face-To-Face Teaching With E-Learning Support The Development Of Phase 4 Apprentices In Mathematics: A Formative Evaluation Research Study, Peter Hinch

Theses

This thesis is a formative evaluation research study_ Its purpose is to establish if

blending face--to-face and e-leaming delivery methods can support the development of

Phase 4 apprentice plumbers in mathematics in the Department of Construction Skills in

the Technologicl University Dublin. The study also included the design, development

and evaluation of a mathematics web site called Plumatics 4 U which is grounded in

established theoretical criteria for effective blended delivery within third level

education. This web site is currently in use by Phase 4 apprentice plumbers and is

delivered through WebCT. The CD accompanying this thesis contains a short …

Volume 17, Number 01, G. William Hill Editor, Linda M. Noble Editor

Reaching Through Teaching

Full text of Volume 17, Number 01 of Reaching Through Teaching.

Volume 16, Number 02, G. William Hill Editor, Linda M. Noble Editor

Reaching Through Teaching

Full text of Volume 16, Number 02 of Reaching Through Teaching.

Self-Efficacy & Technology: Teaching And Learning Using A Handheld Computer, Mildred M. Pearson Dr.

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Self-Efficacy & Technology: Teaching And Learning Using A Handheld Computer, Mildred Pearson

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

Standing My Ground: Reflections Of A Queer Indian Immigrant Professor In The U.S. Classroom, Umeeta Sadarangani

English Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Volume 16, Number 01, G. William Hill Editor, Linda M. Noble Editor

Reaching Through Teaching

Full text of Volume 16, Number 01 of Reaching Through Teaching.