Dr. Jane Wildeson- Garrett County Updates

PDS Meeting- October 18, 2017

Route 40

Students are designing and taking care of a garden.
They are beginning a hydroponics activity
They collect eggs from chickens and hatched a duck.
Bees
Their natural playground is expanding.
All of these activities are student focused. They bring in science and math standards and present on it in the spring.

Grantsville

Working with the Judy Center and other agencies to have parent nights.
The most recent parent night was attended by 85 people. Students built and launched rockets.
Focus on STEM and STEAM activites

Allegany County Updates

Gradual release PD is continuing.
There is a high school scheduling committee being formed to look at possibility of block scheduling.
Curriculum is being lead by PARCC results

Dr. Nichols

FSU is trying to get a combined BS/MAT program approved
Duel enrollment- they would be doing both undergrad & MAT courses for junior and senior year.
All science areas and art are currently going through governance
Students would take graduate courses as undergrads with undergrad pricing
Gives the opportunity to get to know students more before putting them in a teaching placement
MSDE has approved the program, but it still needs approved by higher ed.
This is a positive for recruitment and retention.

Class Demographics Paper

Some mentor teachers are not comfortable giving the information needed to complete this paper. They are afraid of breaking confidentiality.
Students need to know goals and expectations for their students so they are meeting student needs in their lessons.
This helps with differentiated instruction
With edTPA there will be more expectations of interns knowing their students.
FARM students are identified with a whole school percentage-not a class percentage
Names are not listed on this form-only numbers
If mentor teacher is uncomfortable, students could use <10 for smaller numbers (PARCC data format)

Dr. Mattern- Coppin Project

FSU interns have rural placements while Coppin interns have urban placements
We have partnered with students from Coppin
Our students talked to and learned about the students from Coppin
We have toured schools in Baltimore
The students from Coppin have come here to tour our schools
We have had students doing full internships in Baltimore and are trying to get Coppin students to come here for full internships.
We have created modules to build cultural confidence in students
Module 1: Learning about yourself
Module 2: UDL
Module 3: Differentiation
Module 4: Assessment
Module 5: Classroom Management
Module 6: Family engagement
Students receive 6 micro-credentials for these things
They complete clinical rounds on each of these topics
An observation tool has been created so students can look for the strategies they are learning about.
Looking at creating a clinical rotation that would be optional for students- they would do 14 weeks in placement in Allegany County and 1 week in placement in Baltimore
Took vans of students to Turf Valley Resort for two days of presentations with Coppin students
Students biggest take-away from visiting these schools- Kids are kids regardless of environment
$3.4 million grant for this project

Data- Elementary

Strengths- dispositions and professionalism, knowledge of students, enthusiasm, classroom climate, consistently align their learning objectives and standards, application of content knowledge, incorporating children’s literature in newsletters, assessment
Areas for Innovation- science and math lesson plans and some components of literacy, differentiation
One problem is students create a 5 day unit plan- teach day 1 and move to day 2 whether students understand lesson or not
Students need to use assessment data and make sure the students understand the concepts
How can we help them become better at using data? Feedback:
There is a disconnect between requirement of having a lesson 24/48 hrs in advance and being able to change it
Mentor and supervisor need to tell them making changes is okay
Long range planning should still be done but they need to make adjustments
Some interns do not stop to reflect- mentors can sit down with them and reflect on the lesson with them
When they start a 5 day unit on Monday, they think they have to be finished by Friday- they don’t think about stopping to fix the lesson and reteach
Unit can be more than 5 days
We could create an observation tool for students look at how their mentor uses data for the following day’s planning
edTPA- students must record themselves teaching and watch it to reflect
Would supervisors be willing to watch this video with them and help than reflect instead of doing content planning interview?

Service Learning-

This semester Intern IIs are still required to do a service learning project-BUT it does not need to be connected to the unit and does not have to have the “learning” portion. They must still complete and submit a reflection.

Service Learning feedback from Elementary:

Some units make it very hard to tie in service learning- it would be better to separate it from the unit
Interns could work with Partnership Action Teams to help plan one of their activities as service learning. These would be more beneficial service projects for students and it would give them ideas to take to a school when they were hired.
Interns do not always want to come to school for evening activities-make this an expectation so they will attend
Mentor could point them towards service ideas that would be more meaningful
If intern provides the craft, instruction, ect. for Family Literacy Night can it be service learning?
Yes- it can be any opportunity like this if they are taking ownership of the activity

PDS Updates

There will only be one PDS meeting per semester unless something is really changing
The Dean has agreed to pay for mentor training at the conclusion of the year
$100 to mentors who participate
we will try to pick a date that works with Garrett County
If you have any suggestions of what we can do to help mentors please email them.
You do not have to collect any artifacts from the students until further notice