Carson-Newman College

A Message

from the Dean

Our teacher education unit at Carson-

Newman likes to listen! We have three

groups from whom we regularly seek

input—campus faculty, P-12 practitio-

ners and community leaders, and stu-

dents. We have recently developed a

more formal way to receive input from

students. We have formed a Student Ad-

visory Council, and it has already met

twice during spring semester. Those stu-

dents in attendance for the first meeting

were:

Kenneth Claire (special education),

Lata Kodali (math ed),

Taylor Hawley (history ed),

Abbey Cox (K-6),

Sarah Chambers (grad K-6),

Kathryn Smith (grad English ed),

Scott Young (grad history ed),

Holly Human (K-6), and

Maggie Smith (special education).

At its first meeting, several views were

expressed by students: Sometimes it is

difficult to get information, and the best

way to get information is for professors to

make announcements in classes; graduate

students would like to have an orientation

meeting each semester; and there is a need

for Praxis study sessions.

The second meeting of the Student Advi-

sory Council was held on April 8. This

meeting focused on student suggestions

for program improvements. All students

are invited to attend future meetings. The

meetings times will be announced on

EagleNet. Join us and add your voice to

the discussions.

Dr. Sharon Teets

Spring 2010 Edition

Come One, Come All to the New Improved Curriculum Lab!

Moving Upward with Advanced Technology!

Best Buddies' Year In Review

Data...It Does A Department Good

Jefferson County P-16 Council

Education Leadership Advisory Committee

PRAXIS II Exams Offered Online

Come One, Come All to the New Improved Curriculum Lab!

"If you plan for a year, plant a seed. If for ten years, plant a tree. If for a hundred years, teach the people.

When you sow a seed once, you will reap a single harvest. When you teach the people, you will reap a hundred

harvests." --Kuan Chung

Page 2 Spring 2010 Edition

“A house without books is like a room without windows...” Horace Mann

Thanks to a generous donation by the Cole-Little family, last summer the lower level of Stokely Memorial underwent a wonderful change. One of the best things to happen was that our Curriculum Lab moved to a much larger, brighter spot that has both books and windows. In recent surveys, students have commented that they ap-preciate the enhanced atmosphere that is more conducive to reading, research, cooperative learn-ing and preparing curriculum development pro-jects. The spacious and inviting space contributes to the increased use of the Curriculum Lab for stu-dents, faculty and staff.

Last November, the

dedication of the Cole-

Little Curriculum Lab

honored Dr. and Mrs.

Little (who are both Car-

son-Newman graduates),

and their

family for

The Cole-Little family were honored at a November reception dedicating the newly renovated Curriculum Lab, made possible by their donation to the School of Education.

their contribution to the renovation project. Dr. Karen

Milligan, the daughter of Dr. & Mrs. Little, paid tribute

to her parents in a heartfelt presentation acknowledg-

ing their commitment to Carson-Newman College and

the education of young people throughout the commu-

nity. Future generations of teachers will have the bene-

fit of this enhanced teacher development environment.

Teaching and learning with technology has been a component of the Teacher Education department at Carson-Newman College for many years. Guided by the changing perspectives on equipping future teachers with the fundamental knowledge and skills for integrating technology into the educa-tional process, the department has maintained a forward thinking perspec-tive on addressing the technology needs of students and faculty. Beginning this past fall, this task be-came easier. Through a donation from the Morgan Family, the School of Edu-cation was not only able to enhance the physical environment of the relo-

cated computer lab, but also to equip the lab with additional computers and furnishings. The donation also provided funding for the purchase and installa-tion of Promethean interactive white-boards to be placed in nine classrooms and the Ted and Drama Russell Room. Dr. Allen (Class of ‘68) and Mrs. Phyllis Morgan made the generous dona-tion in honor of their son Chris (Class of ’97). Chris and his wife, Melanie, were among the guests at the reception held in their honor on October 9th.

Moving Upward with Advanced Technology!

Page 3 Spring 2010 Edition

Teaching Vacancies Announced

Southern Teachers Agency currently has 624 vacancies listed by schools for the 2010-11 school year. STA is the oldest educational recruitment service in Amer-ica and receives job listings from hundreds of PK-12 private schools around the South. STA connects educators to positions in private/independent schools in the South. STA is a third-party recruiter. All services of STA are paid for by the schools. Candi-

dates have no financial obligations to STA whatsoever.

Please visit the website or contact: hhh

Southern Teachers Agency 7 Elliewood Avenue, Suite 2A

Charlottesville, VA 22903 Tel (434) 295-9122

Teachers@SouthernTeachers.com www.SouthernTeachers.com

Join STEA Today Option One: Online Registration

Go to http://www.teateachers.org

Click on “About TEA”

Select the “STEA – Student TEA option

On the Student TEA page click on the text (highlighted in red) for join STEA now

On the Student Enrollment/Renewal Form page submit the completed form for membership. You can use your credit or debit card; you will need the security number printed on your card. The amount is $25, the CNC chapter does not assess chapter dues.

After joining, print the confirmation page. Later you will be able to go back to the Student Enrollment/Renewal Form page and click on the blue Check My Membership Status button to confirm enrollment. Print copy for your records.

Option Two: Sign up with Dr. Cody-Mitchell

also, and please hear this students, it is a preliminary job interview. Each and every time you visit a school for a practicum placement or student teaching the eyes of the mentoring teachers and the building administra-tors are on you. At the end of every semester the mentoring teachers and the building administrators talk. They are looking for future teachers, teachers that understand the impor-tance of teaching, not just as a job but as a career. To that effect the reputation of C-N and each and every teacher training student is at stake. The numbers show that the impact is great. Carson-Newman teacher education students are making a big impact on the surrounding school systems. For the academic calendar years 2008/2009 and 2009/2010, in four semesters C-N worked with 20 school systems and 8 private organizations. C-N requested and confirmed 832 practicum placements and 240 stu-dent teacher placements. This looks very impressive and it is, but the

number of hours contributed by C-N students is even more impressive, not just in terms of service to these systems, but also related to the im-portance C-N places on clinical ex-perience. In the past two years C-N and the local school systems have provide 24,837 hours of clinical ex-perience and 56,400 hours of student teaching opportunities for C-N stu-dents. This is significant in terms of hours but also in terms of benefit to everyone involved. We all must remember that clinical experiences must be a benefit to the school systems, students and C-N. In a recent meeting with a number of school system high level administers, Wayne Miller, the Director of Schools for Lenoir City Schools, said, “…any field (clinical) experiences must bene-fit everyone involved, including the schools or it just doesn’t make sense to do it.”

Dr. Mike McDaniel

There are many in the field of educa-tion that believe clinical experience is a significant part of teacher training. Even today law makers, educational experts and our own Carson-Newman graduates are calling for more clinical experiences. Using the hands-on con-cept, jumping in there and getting your hands dirty, putting your nose to the grind stone, all those old timey quotes and more I heard from my father still apply. Clinical experience, or field experience as we call it, is very important.

... Recent evidence also indi-cates that reforms of teacher education creating more tightly integrated programs with ex-tended clinical preparation in-terwoven with coursework on learning and teaching produce teachers who are both more effective and more likely to en-ter and stay in teaching.

Linda Darling-Hammond Not only is clinical experience impor-tant from the learning aspect but

Page 4 Spring 2010 Edition

We Are Everywhere

your buddy each month. Paired bud-dies also attend the whole groups’ events. An associate buddy is expected to come to the whole group events only. We always need more buddies, especially for one on one friendships. An organizational meeting will be held at the beginning of the year for all in-terested students. If anyone wants more information about the program they may contact Ms Rebecca Sharp at 865-471-4765.

Best Buddies have had a fantastic year. New buddies have bonded and formed lasting friendships with their one on one visitations. Whole group activities have been a lot of fun. As a whole group we have gone bowl-ing which is always a barrelful of laughs. The group home sponsored a Halloween party with many spooky costumes and great food. A rousing basketball game was held in Butler Blanc gym where groups competed with each other. An Easter Egg hunt was held on the SAC lawn with prizes in each egg. A valentine’s party was also held in the SAC with the sharing of val-

entines between buddies. The high-light of the year was a group trip to Dixie Stampede in Pigeon Forge. Every-one is still talking about the rodeo and the great food. We still have a talent show and a prom coming up before the end of the year. Best Buddies is an international pro-gram started by Anthony Shriver in 1989 where a college student buddy is paired with a mentally challenged adult in the community. If you are a matched college buddy you visit your community buddy twice a month and have two other verbal contacts such as a phone call, email, or snail mail with

BEST BUDDIES YEAR IN REVIEW

Page 5 Spring 2010 Edition

Page 6 Spring 2010 Edition

Data.......So What? Many of you are already aware that there

is an entire position in the teacher education department. de-

voted to collecting, aggregating, and reporting data for the

school. Most of the surveys you are asked to complete come

out of this office and provide us with insight on various as-

pects of your experiences here. Behind the scenes, data is

collected on scores for PDPs and Work Samples, Practicum

Dispositions, Practicum Evaluations, GPAs, Interview scores

and just about any other area that can be turned into hard

numbers. I’m sure when you are completing one of these sur-

veys you are thinking ―so what?‖ – ―who cares?‖ – ―does my

opinion make any difference at all?‖

Well…as a matter of fact, it does! I thought you might like to

know that based on feedback from Student Teaching Exit Sur-

veys and Alumni Surveys, CN realized that the teacher educa-

tion department was not providing enough training on new

technology used in many classrooms today. This prompted

the purchase of the Promethean boards that are in our class-

rooms now so that faculty can model their use and you can

experiment and learn in a comfortable environment (not in

front of a classroom full of fidgety students!).

Along those lines, many students have commented on the gen-

eral environment of the hallways under the cafeteria. Thanks

to a generous gift, the area has fresh paint, new carpet, and a

generally brighter feeling. The move of the Curriculum Lab

created a much nicer place for research and study. Based on

feedback received from surveys about the Curriculum Lab,

they now offer additional items for purchase to make those

projects easier to complete and have made a point to include

more books by Appalachian authors – all at student request.

Other insight we acquire from surveys is the opinions of

school principals. They tell us what we are doing right and

where we can improve. Here are some direct quotes about

CN teacher education graduates:

― … it is evident that her skill set, knowledge, ability to

plan and organize the classroom and teaching were part

of a high quality teacher prep program‖

― Excellent in content area and strategies‖

―Of the schools I have experience with, CN graduates the best

―product‖.‖

―Keep sending me this caliber of teacher!‖

―As a middle grades administrator it is very important to pro-

vide and encourage teachers who are interested in the middle

grades concept. Teachers in prep programs need to be encour-

aged to seek a middle grades endorsement.‖

And on the other side of the coin, here are the areas where you

may want to work harder to edge out the competition. These

quotes are related to areas where a new teacher may need to im-

prove:

―The area that most new teachers have difficulty with and

(new teacher) is no exception, is using assessment to drive

instruction. Understanding the types of assessment and how

that impacts student learning.‖

― Differentiated instruction, literacy centers, hands-on math‖

―Differentiated instruction; more knowledge of how to make

lesson plans to state standards‖

―As you are well aware the education field has changed dra-

matically. Instruction is research based and test driven.‖

―More technology training; using assessment info in planning

– two areas all new teachers have trouble with. Planning for

diverse learners.‖

―Incorporate more …concerning discipline plans and proce-

dures.‖

Now, hopefully, when you are asked your opinion, as a student or

as an alum, you will truly give some honest feedback so that those

who follow you will have an even stronger preparation for enter-

ing the teaching world.

Mrs. Arlene Helms

Data Manager Coordinator

Data...It Does A Department Good

"Teachers teach because they care. Teaching young people is what they do best. It requires long hours, patience, and care."--Horace Mann

Save the Date ... Homecoming 2010

October 9th

Homeco

ming

2009

Page 8 Spring 2010 Edition

The Jefferson County P-16 Council was approved by the state this February. The P-16 Council, a public/private partnership, is a student-focused, comprehensive and integrated system that links all education levels from preschool (P) through post-secondary. It is a powerful framework for citizens and policymakers to use to improve teaching and learning and thus better prepare students for living, learning, and working in a changing world.

Jefferson County P-16 Council

PRAXIS II Exams Offered Online

More details will be available as we receive them.

Local Tennessee

Online Test Centers

East Tennessee State University

Campus Center Bldg.

Room 208 Johnson City, Tennessee 37614

(423)439-7842

Prometric Testing Center 9050 Executive Park Drive

Bldg A - Suite 100

Knoxville, Tennessee 37923 (865)690-2677

Elementary Education exams (0011 and 0014) will be offered as computer-based tests beginning in the Fall of 2010. The majority of tests will still be paper-based tests administered seven times a year. A listing of the twelve online test cen-ters across the State of Tennessee is available on the ETS.org website. They are fairly well distributed across the state and there is a test center for each of the larger metropolitan areas, within a reasonable drive from any location in Tennessee.

The School of Education will continue to update you as we get closer to the September 1, 2010 implementation date. ETS has promised to monitor test center usage and provide access for all candidates. Testing will be available daily by appointment at the test taker's convenience. ETS will gradually offer more and more of the licensure exams online in a phase-in schedule. Please note that ONLY TWO tests will be available for this fall.

Page 9 Spring 2010 Edition

The first meeting of the Carson-Newman Col-lege Leadership Advisory Committee was held at the school on Thursday, March 31. The meeting was attended by district and school administra-tors from surrounding counties. The meeting con-vened in the Stokely Memorial Building on the Carson-Newman College campus. Those attend-ing were welcomed by Dr. Sharon Teets, School of Education Dean. Following Dr. Teets, Dr. Mike McDaniel, Associ-ate Dean and Director of Field Experiences for the college, provided information relating to agree-ments with local school districts concerning the placement of student teachers. Dr. Ernie Walker, Director of Educational Leadership, presented in-formation on the revised Educational Leadership program and the updated licensure requirements approved by the State Board of Education on No-vember 6, 2009.

Education Leadership Advisory Committee

In break-out groups, members were encouraged to

provide their input on the design aspects of the Educa-

tional Leadership program and a proposed School

Safety course, which will become a future part of the

Educational Leadership Program at C-N. Following the

lunch meal, participants met with Dr. Patty Kraft, CNC

Associate Provost to discuss the progress accomplished

during the meeting. A regular meeting schedule is

forthcoming will be distributed to the committee.